We All Have Our Secrets
by Lolita91
Summary: Hiatus over! A teen survivor joins the group, but she has just as much to hide as everyone else. Can she keep a secret? Glenn/OC
1. Leap of Faith

**_Hi ! Okay so this is my first ever fan fic (that I've ever posted, anyway) so hope you like it :) Please feel free to criticize... it's the only way we grow as writers, right?_**

**_It doesn't hurt to review review REVIEW ! :)_**

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><p>I woke up to gunshots.<p>

I'd fallen asleep on the roof, radio skittered off to my side and gun clasped tightly in hand. I didn't know where the shots came from but I heard distinctive moans on the streets below and decided not to look. Some poor guy probably trying to get out of the city. But there were just too many... I'd tried enough times myself to know that there are at least a few hundred Vics down there just waiting to pick me up and slap me on a dinner plate.

_"I'm back," _Someone's voice crackled through my C.B. radio. _"Got a guest. Plus four geeks in the alley."_

What? I grabbed my radio and just stared at it in disbelief. Gunshots is one thing... I hadn't heard any chatter for weeks. Atlanta hadn't exactly been the 'beacon of hope' that everyone said it was. No refugee center. No survivors. Just a hell of a lot of empty buildings and streets full of Vics. I'd been hiding out on the upper levels of an old apartment building, the stairs to the bottom blocked off from an explosion and no way out unless I wanted to climb down to the alleyway and get myself eaten. I only had one round left on my Magnum and I was carefully saving bullets... just in case.

"Hello?" I clicked on the radio. "Anyone there? Hello?"

Crackling. And then-

_"Hello? Who's there?"_ A female voice came over the receiver this time. _"Where are you?"_

"My name's Nicole. I'm stuck on a damn roof. Can't get down."

A pause and then, _"How old are you?"_

My voice always failed me. I may look older than I am, but I still sound young. I lied and said, "Eighteen."

I could get away with eighteen if I kept my hair down and kept an eyeliner handy. They wouldn't know the difference.

_"Alright, Nicole, sweety, I'm Jacqui, okay? We can come and help you."_

"We?" I became sceptical. Survivors on their own were trouble enough. I'd learned to not trust anyone. But survivors in a group? Who knows what could happen?

_"Yes, my group, there are a few of us. Listen, we have a camp, it's safe, if you let us help you."_

I sat back against the railing on the roof and leaned my head back. A chance to get off this damn building I'll take, hands down. But I don't know if I really favor jumping in tents with a bunch of strangers. I sighed and shook my head,

"Okay," I said. "I'm just on the edge of the city, on the roof of this old apartment complex." I paused and then, "I have no idea what else to tell you."

_"That's okay, that's okay. Now listen, look around, can you see any types of landmarks?"_

I did as was told and turned around, eyes scanning the streets below.

"Holy shit." I muttered. There was that tank I'd seen a few days ago, except now, next to it was a huge huddle of those freaks, feeding on what used to be a horse. At least I guessed it was a horse. It was kind of... eaten.

"Uh, you see that feeding frenzy by the military roadblock?"

_"Yes, yes!"_ Came the reply. _"We're at a department store a block to the north."_

"Oh, I should just be-"

I was cut off by the unmistakable sound of gunshots.

"What was that?" I asked.

_"Hold on, I think I know."_

The radio went silent and another gunshot made me jump out of my skin. It was nearby. I stood up and shuffled back to the edge of the roof, looking over towards the sound. Then I saw the source of the sound, on the roof of the building next to me. It was a biker-type-looking guy with a rifle in his hands, picking off Vics from the street. I felt like screaming. Haven't we had _enough_ gunshots for one day? Does he want to attract every Vic in the god damned city to the bottom of my building? Did he _want_ to get my foot shoved up his ass?

Suddenly a door slammed open on Captain Idiot's roof and several people poured out, all screaming at him. I squinted my eyes, hardly believing the scene playing out below me. There were survivors. A lot of them. Suddenly I didn't feel so alone.

Except from the fact that a few of the guys on the roof were now preceding to beat the tar out of each other.

I glanced furtively towards my magnum but shook my head, there was nothing I could do from here except let them play it out. Captain Idiot got the upper hand and pulled a gun on the guy, just standing there with the barrel pressed to his face. I tensed. I had had my doubts before about joining a group. Now I was really starting to question this clan's morals. I watched as a guy dressed as a cop slowly snuck up behind Captain Idiot with a rifle in hand. I saw what was coming even before he smashed it over Captain's head and handcuffed the guy to a pipe on the roof. Everything seemed to calm down and I guardedly reached for the C.B.

"Hey, Jacqui?" I said, clicking the button. "You wouldn't happen to be on that roof, would ya?"

I saw a dark-skinned woman look down and a radio and knew my answer.

_"Can you see us?"_

"Yeah." She started looking around her, searching for me. "Look behind you."

She spun around and looked up to my roof. I waved and she returned it. _"Can you get to us from here?"_

I expertly scanned over my options. There was a ladder to my left that went straight down to a fire escape platform where I could jump to their side and climb up, but three Vics were on their fire escape, clawing at the windows on the building.

"I think so. But I'll need some help."

_"What can we do?"_

"Go to the edge, there's a fire escape about halfway down. I think I can jump between buildings but you're going to have to take out the Vics on your side before I can do it."

_"Vics?"_

I sighed. I figured everyone had a different name for them. "Short for victims. The dead things."

She reached the side of her building, about twenty feet below me, and now I could hear her voice normally as well as through the radio.

_"We can do that. I'll get someone on it and we'll have you safe in no time, sweety."_

"Okay." I said quietly over the CB. She nodded up at me and I ran back to the door of my roof to grab my bag. I didn't plan on coming back. Ever. Even if that group ended up being worse than they already looked, I wasn't going back. I'd figure something out.

I ran back out to the roof just as two of the guys from the roof took out the Vics with baseball bats. They looked up at me and waved me down. I grabbed my radio and took a deep breath.

"Hey, Jacqui," I said, "If this doesn't work... thanks for trying."

I clicked the radio off before I could hear a reply and stuffed it into my bag before I could regret my decision. I dropped my bag over the edge to the fire escape and followed it down, sliding my hands down the sides of the ladder and getting down as quickly as possible. My feet hit the metal grate at the bottom and I turned to see Cop-Man and the guy who'd got his face kicked in by Captain Idiot. They waved me over and I took a deep breath, tossing my bag over to them and warily stepping to the edge. I mentally braced myself for the jump. There were so many ways this could end badly. I could miss the platform and die from the fall. I could miss the platform, survive the fall, and get eaten by Vics. On the other hand, I could get to the platform and find out my new friends were going to turn on me and steal my weapons and supplies and leave me to die.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took the jump.

Ah, screw it.


	2. Death Wish

I just _barely_ landed on the other side, my left foot sliding off the platform and nearly dragging me down. My hands flailed for something to grab onto and were met by two pairs of strong hands lifting me up to my feet.

"Thanks," I muttered, brushing myself off. I looked up at them and stuck out my hand. "I'm Nicole."

"Rick Grimes." Cop-Man shook my hand.

"T-Dog," The other guy said. I nodded in recognition and followed them up to the roof, slinging my bag over my shoulder. The first one to speak to me when I reached the top was I guessed the woman on the radio.

"Hey, honey, glad you're okay." She turned to the rest of her group. "Y'all this is Nicole."

"Hey." I waved. Jacqui went around the group and introduced me to everyone. I already knew her, Cop-Man, and T-Dog, then there was Glenn, Andrea, Morales, and Captain Idiot's name was Merle. Somehow that name fit so perfectly it was almost laughable. "So I hear you guys have a camp? Is it safe?"

"Safe enough." Morales said. "We barely get any walkers up there. Only problem is getting there. There's about a million of those things sitting at our front door."

I didn't need to look over the edge of the roof to know he was right.

"We might be able to get some help, though, if we can get the radios to work." He turned to T-Dog, "How's that signal?"

"Like Dixon's brain," T-Dog answered, shooting a glare at Captain Idiot, "Weak."

I snickered and 'Merle' flipped him off.

"Keep trying." Morales told him.

"Why?" The uptight blonde one, Andrea, said. "There's nothing they can do." She gave a pointed look to Cop-Man. "Not a damn thing." Cop-Man looked a little discouraged.

"They'd run into the same crap we have." I added in agreement. "We're screwed."

"So we're on our own." Cop-Man said. "It's up to us to find a way out."

"Good luck with that," Captain Idiot muttered. "These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear."

"Well no shit." I muttered, rolling my eyes. That earned me a glare. I held my ground and didn't look away, engaging a stare-down with the piece of white trash cuffed to the pipe.

"What you lookin' at, lady?"

I opened my mouth to spout off some smartass comment but Cop-Man interrupted, and Captain Idiot looked away.

"What about under the streets?" He said, "The sewers?"

"Oh, man," I saw the gears turn in Morales' head. Cop-Man - Rick - was right. There would be little or no Vics in the sewers. "Hey, Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"

The Asian kid in the pizza hat ran to the edge and leaned over.

"No," He called, running back to us. "Must be all out on the street where the geeks are."

Geeks, Walkers, Vics, more terms for the dead.

"Maybe not." Jacqui cut in from beside me. "Old building like this, built in the 20's, big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding, down in the subbasements."

"How do you know that?" Glenn asked.

"It's my job," She paused, "Was. I worked in the city zoning office."

We all nodded as it sunk in. We could easily escape through the sewers. As completely disgusting as the idea sounded, anything would have been better than getting eaten. We left Captain Idiot chained to the roof and climbed down the stairs of the building into the basement, Glenn leading us to a room with stairs down to an even lower level.

"This is it?" Morales asked him. "Are you sure?"

"I really scoped this place out the other times I was here." He answered confidently, "It's the only thing in the building that goes down... but I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?"

Everyone looked to Glenn with expectant looks on their faces.

"Oh." He grumbled. "Right."

"We'll be right behind you.." Andrea said.

"No, you won't." Glenn said. "Not you."

"Why not me?" She snapped. "Think I can't?"

"I wasn't..." Glenn trailed off.

"Speak your mind." Rick told him.

"Look," Glenn said, "Until now I always came here by myself. In and out, grab a few things - no problem. The first time I bring a group- everything goes to hell." He put his hands up in a 'don't kill me' kind of manner. "No offense." He paused. "If you want me to go down this gnarly hole... fine. But only if we do it my way. It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me, getting me killed. I'll take _one_ person," Rick went to speak but he interrupted him, "_Not_ you, either. You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass." Rick nodded and he turned to Uptight-Andrea. "You've got the only other gun, so you should go with him."

"I'll go with you." I said. "I'm small, I'm quick, I'm able to cover you if you need it."

"Fine," Glenn said, "Jacqui, Morales, you stay here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."

"Okay." Jacqui answered. Morales nodded.

"Okay," Rick said, "Everybody knows their jobs."

"Yeah, we stick our necks out while you guys stay safe and cosy _above_ ground."

"You volunteered!" Glenn chuckled.

"I volunteered to cover _your_ ass," I said, "Do I _look_ like a girl with a death wish?"

I looked over the edge into the _deep dark damp hole_ and grimaced. Suddenly I wished I hadn't volunteered to be the hero. I wasn't a fan of enclosed spaces, or the dark. Add rats and the chance of drooling freaks to that equation and you have a recipe for a total disaster... one where I don't exactly come out in one piece. And I kind of enjoy having my limbs attached to my body, thank you very much.

Glenn climbed down first and I set my bag down on the ground to slowly follow him, taking a small flashlight from Cop-Man and hooking into my belt so I had free hands. I reached the bottom and felt my converse splash in what I _hoped to God_ was water.

I screwed up my face and shined my light down the tunnel in front of us. It was cold, dark, wet, smelled horrible, and was _way_ to quiet for my liking. There was only the faint drip of water from some pipes running through on our left and the skittering and squeaking of some rodents, but that was it. Glenn started walking and I hesitantly took steps after him.

A rat jumped in front of us and Glenn gasped, freaking out.

"You okay?" I whispered. He looked back and nodded, continuing on. I winced as the smell got worse as we approached a large metal door. "That is _nasty_." I muttered. Glenn let out a quiet nervous laugh and pushed on the door, a loud banging noise echoing through the tunnel as it opened. Once inside, we came across another tunnel that was barred off by an iron grate.

"Sewers." I whispered.

"Can we cut through it?" Glenn asked, pulling on the bars.

"Unless you have a blowtorch I don't know about, I don't think my nail-files gonna cut it."

He laughed slightly and shined his light back into the tunnel. There was a slow squishing sound below us and he lowered his light... right into the face of a very hungry Vic.

"Ah, shit!" I jumped back and covered my mouth. Glenn gave me this freaked out look and said,

"Let's go, there's nothing down here."

I nodded and we ran back up to the surface. Jacqui stood at the top and handed me my bag when we got there.

"Anything?" She asked hopefully.

"It's closed off." I said. "No way through."

She sighed and the three of us went back to the main store where Morales had run off to check on Andrea and Cop-Man. As we entered the room, the Vics broke through the first set of glass doors. There was still another set, thank god, but we all went on edge and had guns and baseball bats and anything else within reach aimed at their heads.

"What'd you find down there?" Rick asked when I fell in at his side, my magnum clutched in my hands and ready to fire.

"The only way out is sealed shut." I said.

"We need to find another way," Andrea said, "And soon."


	3. Blue Ribbon

I never saw myself joining a group. Ever since Vics had started running around the place and screwing shit up I'd decided that people were more trouble than they were worth. I mean, people do stupid things when they're scared. Especially when they meet a tiny little fifteen year old girl with no defences. I'd been mugged and had my supplies stolen enough times to get smart and find myself a decent gun to defend myself with, and learned very quickly how to use it so I could hold off Vics and at the same time hold off anyone who tried to get the upper hand over me. This wasn't a world for childish games and holding mommy's hand anymore. _"It's time to nut up or shut up"_ - A quote from my all time favorite movie just summed it all up. Kind of ironic, I'd grown up loving everything to do with _zombies_ and the dead up and walking, but when the disease actually hit in real life... I instantly regretted laughing as people got ripped apart on the big screen. I didn't regret watching them, I mean it helped a hell of a lot for me, I only regretting thinking it could never happen and it was only a form of dark entertainment. But since I ran into school one day and found bodies lining the halls, I'd started remembering the tips in those movies like they were my 10 commandments.

_Rule __#__ 1: Cardio_

_Rule __#__ 2: Double Tap_

_Rule __#__ 3: Beware of Bathrooms_

_Rule __#__ 4: Wear Seatbelts_

Etc etc etc etc... The rules of 'Columbus Ohio' had seriously helped me over the course of the apocalypse, guiding me along like some sick joke. Only difference was, I was on my own and didn't have some psycho-ass cowboy to help me out or a pair of gold-digging bitches to steal my guns, kick my ass, and leave. It was me, my gun, and the dead.

We all huddled up on the roof, leaning over to look out into the streets for any type of escape. Cop-Man Rick Grimes had binoculars and was checking everything out with a calculating eye.

"That construction site," He said, handing the binoculars to Morales, "Those trucks. They always keep keys on hand."

"You'll never make it past the walkers." Morales muttered, glancing over the edge. Rick pushed off the wall and turned to Glenn.

"You got me out of that tank," He said.

"Yeah, but they were feeding," Glenn protested, "They were distracted."

"Can we distract them again?"

"Right!" Captain Idiot called from the pipe behind us. "Listen to him! He's onto som'n. A diversion, like on 'Hogan's Heroes'."

"_God_, give it a rest." Jacqui snapped at him.

"They're drawn by sound, right?" Cop-Man asked.

"Right, like dogs." Glenn nodded, "They hear a sound, they come."

"What else?" Rick asked.

"Aside from they hear you?" Morales said, "They see you, smell you... and if they catch you- eat you."

"Thanks, Morales, for that first class analysis." I muttered. "Either way we're screwed. They can sense us in every way we can sense them."

"They can tell us by smell?" Rick screwed his face up.

"Can't _you_?" Glenn said.

"They smell dead, we don't." Uptight-Andrea said, "It's pretty distinct."

"What if we smelled dead, too?" Rick asked.

"I think that kind of defeats the whole purpose of the _staying alive_ part." I said.

"Not necessarily. What if... what if there was a way to somehow _cover_ our scent, with theirs?"

"If your saying what I think your saying..." Glenn mumbled.

Rick turned to Morales, "Are those two walkers still in the alleyway?"

"Yeah, haven't had time to spring clean, if that's what you mean."

Rick nodded, "Good, in that case we're going to need to get some things from the store downstairs."

He started leading us back into the building, and I gave a creeped out look to Glenn and then turned my attention to Crazy-Cop-Man.

"I have a bad feeling about this idea of yours." I said. "Please don't tell me your actually crazy enough to think of doing this."

"I think it's our best shot." He insisted.

"What is? What's he talkin' about?" T-Dog asked.

Rick took a deep breath and turned to address the group. "I think we need to get those bodies from the alleyway, cut them up, and get the blood on our clothes so _their_ smell covers up _our_ smell, and we can get ourselves through the streets unnoticed."

"I was right." I muttered. "You are crazy."

"It may be crazy, but it'll work."

"Well you're going then." T-Dog said, "Your insane idea. You go."

Rick nodded, "I know. I'm going." He turned to Glenn and me then and I winced.

"Seriously?" I grumbled.

"Dude, come on." Glenn protested. Rick gave us both this very Cop-type look that just made us pull up our skirts and nod our heads in agreement.

"Fine," I said, "But you _owe_ me, _big time_ for this."

This was a bad, bad, _bad _idea. Covering ourselves in dead-man guts? That had to be bad for your health. Mentally _and_ physically. As far as this new group goes on my morality scale, they just dropped like ten points down the chart for this one. I'd had to do some weird things to survive, but this definitely had a blue ribbon plastered on it. A blue ribbon with blood splatters on it. And walker guts. Ugh.

We ran back down the stairs to the department store and Cop-Man rifled through shelves to try and find what we needed. He ripped some gloves off of a rack and tossed some to Glenn and me. I caught mine and started to put them on. They were huge on my small hands but it was the best I was going to get with our limited resources.

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event," Glenn said, taking his gloves, "This would take the gold."

"He's right," Morales said, storming over to Rick, "Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through."

"How much time?" Rick said, handing him a white lab jacket, "They already got through one set of doors, that glass won't hold forever." He tossed me a jacket. "It's our only choice."

"Well it's one shitty choice." I mumbled. I slipped on my jacket as we prepared to make ourselves each a meat suit.


	4. Organ Donor

**_Thanks for the Reviews !_**

**_basserandstuff: Thanks! I kind of got annoyed that there wasn't any teenagers on the show to relate too since Amy kind of, well, died. Lol. So I made Nicole. And I haven't quite decided if I'm saving Merle or not, we'll see!_**

**_Axarell: I know, me too... I wouldn't last one day without having watched every zombie movie ever made !_**

**_NixyKnight: Awwhh thanks :) Genius comment, kid. Genius xD_**

**_calynn jiana: Will do!_**

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><p>"So where are you from?" The Asian kid, Glenn, asked absently as we waited for the rest of the group to get Cop-Man's plan together.<p>

"Mom's from Minnesota, Dad's from England." I answered with a smile.

"Explains the accent," He laughed.

"Yeah, messed up, huh?"

"Yeah, definitely." I laughed with him and then asked,

"So what about you then? Where are you from?"

"Here," He said, "Atlanta."

"Oh, cool." I muttered and looked away. He looked over at me and laughed,

"Korea." He said.

"Oh," was my brilliant answer. I looked away and his behind my bangs. You're an idiot, Nicole. Way to be a bitch! Luckily he just shook it off and continued his interrogation.

"How old are you?" I laughed internally. I'm fifteen, dude, but I'm not telling you that.

"Eighteen," I said, continuing the lie. He seemed satisfied enough so I switched the attention to him, asking, "What did you do before all this?"

"Pizza boy," He smiled, tapping the brim of his baseball cap.

"Sweet," I laughed, "So I've been saved by a redneck, a cop, and now add the pizza boy."

"What about the others?" He asked, laughing, "Got a tag for them yet?"

"Oh, I do," I said, "They're just not very..."

"Nice?"

"One way to put it."

He chuckled and took off his baseball cap, running his hand through his black hair.

"Try me. I have a good sense of humour."

I sighed and gave in. "Uptight Andrea, for one."

He burst out laughing and I couldn't help but join. This guy had one of those laughs where it just makes you want to join in. "Wow, that's actually true."

"I know, right?" I giggled, "I've only been around her for a total of five minutes and I've already gotten my fair share of 'evils'."

"Imagine, I _live_ with her."

"God, I'd probably kick her in the face."

"Violent!" He play-shoved my arm and I giggled.

"I'm not violent," I laughed, "I just have different ways of expressing my emotions."

He laughed. "So _are_ you coming back to camp with us?"

I froze. I kind of liked these people. Okay, so Captain Idiot and Uptight Andrea, not so much, but T-Dog and Morales seemed alright, Rick was a good guy, Jacqui _did_ save my life, and Glenn was pretty cool. Hopefully there's people my age at they're camp, so I don't have to keep up with the lie. Well, that lie at least.

"I think so." I said quietly, "Not like I have very many options."

"How'd you end up on that roof anyway?"

I shrugged off the question, "Long story."

"Life is full of long stories nowadays."

Crazy-Cop-Man Rick and Morales dragged one of the dead bodies from the alleyway into the back room of the building where Glenn and I were, ready to slice it into zombie sushi so we could wear it like some sick 'Lady Ga Ga' outfit. Absently I wondered what happened to people like her. The famous people. Maybe I'd reach L.A. someday and run into Paris Hilton in the streets, or I'd get the chance to give a graceful headshot to one of the Backstreet Boys.

Rick swung a crowbar and broke the glass encasing an axe onto the wall for fires. The glass shattered to the ground and he grabbed the axe, wielding it nervously as he prepared to dismember the rancid body sprawled out below us.

A spine-chilling silence drifted over us as he lifted the axe and went to take the swing. He stopped mid-swing and dropped the axe to the ground, kneeling beside the body. He started searching it's pockets and eventually pulled out an old wallet.

"Wayne Dunlap." He said mournfully, "Georgia License. Born in 1979." He handed the license off to Glenn and continued his sermon. "He had $28 in his pocket when he died. And.. a picture of a pretty girl." He looked down at the picture and read the caption, "'With love, from Rachel'." He looked back up at us, "He used to be like us. Worrying about bills, or the rent, or the super bowl." He paused. "I think Nicole's description fits this man straight-on." I flinched. "This man is was a victim. If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne."

"God Bless." Jacqui whispered as Rick picked up his axe again.

"One more thing," Glenn said, "He was an organ donor."

Even at a time like this, it was hard to _not_ laugh at that comment. I mean, come on, Glenn. I had to hide behind my hand so no one could see my smile. Yes, I have a sick sense of humour, people.

I winced and jumped back as the Crazy Cop took the first blow with a deafening crack-and-squish sound that made my stomach run cartwheels in my gut. Everyone started groaning in time with each of his swings, chopping and squelching and blood and guts and bones and- _'Eeeuuughhh' _just about sums it all up. Morales muttered something in Spanish and I turned my head away, hiding behind Glenn as Cop-Man tore off the poor guy's limbs. He paused and handed the axe and his plastic visor over to Morales, ordering him to continue chopping.

"Ah, I am _so_ gonna hurl..." Glenn groaned from beside me. I hunched myself over and tried to hold back my breakfast, too.

"Later," Rick ordered. Morales continued swinging the axe into the guy's stomach, blood spraying up and coating the floor around us, innards splayed across the body like my mom's home-made meatloaf.

"Oh, God, that's just gross." I muttered, covering my mouth with my hand.

"Everybody got gloves?" Rick asked. We all nodded solemnly. "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."

And then we all dove in like vultures, gloved hands searching through the wet sticky chunks of meat and picking them up out of the body. I stood up and nearly heaved right there as Morales helped me cover my jacket with the gore.

"Oh, jeez, this is bad," Glenn moaned, "This is really, really bad."

"Try and think of something else," Rick said, also wincing as he was covered in blood, "Puppies and kittens."

"_Dead_ puppies and kittens." T-Dog voiced my morbid thoughts. Glenn had enough and turned around, puke splattering all over the floor. Seeing someone puke was enough to take me over the edge. I had more sense, and ran to a trashcan in the corner, leaning over and trying desperately to hold my hair back without touching it with my blood-covered gloves as I deposited my toast and jam into the bottom with a sickening plopping sound.

"That is just evil," Andrea muttered from behind me, "What is wrong with you?"

"Next time," Jacqui said, "Let the cracker _beat_ his ass."

I figured she meant Captain Idiot up on the roof and suddenly found myself agreeing with her. Maybe we'd have been better off with the redneck guiding us through the city. Instead we had Officer-Gross-ness slapping intestines onto our shoulders.

"Ah, jeez, Rick, what did I ever do to you?" I groaned.

"Do we smell like them?" He answered.

"Oh, yeah." Andrea winced.

"Are all cops as warped in the head as you?" I asked with a frown as T-Dog wrapped something around my neck and let it hang in front of me.

Glenn groaned again, "I really hope to God this works, man."

"At this point," I said, "If this doesn't work, I'd jump into the arms of the closest walker pretty enthusiastically."

"Glenn," Andrea appeared between us, her gun in hand. "Just in case." She said, and tucked it into his belt underneath his meat jacket. I double-checked to see if my own gun was still on me and relaxed my shoulders when I found it was.

"Come on, Rick," I muttered, "Let's just get this over with, already."

He looked to T-Dog and said, "If we make it back, be ready."

"_If_ we make it back?" I asked. "_If?"_

My comment was ignored and T-Dog asked, "What about Merle Dixon?" AKA Captain Idiot.

Crazy-Cop-Man dug into his pocket and tossed T-Dog the key to the redneck's cuffs without a word.


	5. Eat me, I'm Living

_**Voila! Chapter 5 for my lovelies :)**_

_**Review review review! It doesn't hurt, right? :) And what do y'all think of Nicole? Thoughts on the whole age thing? Reviiiewww !**_

_**Axarell: Most people yell at me for using dialogue from the show.. but I think you can pull it off if there's not too much of it and just enough to make the fic relatable to the show, you know? :) And I know I totally busted out laughing at that part with Glenn :P Anyway thanks for the review :D**_

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><p>"I swear to God I'm never agreeing to do anything for you ever again, Rick."<p>

We were standing at the door, about to walk into the alley and 'pretend to be dead'. I had strict instructions to 'act dead' and 'walk like I'm dead'. I just kept thinking, with my luck, some living person will come running through town and get all trigger happy and shoot us - since we look like we're dead. Wouldn't that be the icing on the freaking cake.

"I'm sure you'll change your mind, Nicole." He shot me a sorry smile and I wanted to hit him in the nose. I don't like cops. Apocalypse or not. They're all the same.

"I'm not sure my stomach could handle it." I mumbled as T-Dog tied a _human hand_ to a piece of _string_ and let it hang from my jacket. I shuddered and tried to suck it up and keep my cool.

"Mine either." Glenn muttered. "I don't I think I could ever eat again. At least not meat, anyway."

"I'm a vegetarian to start with." I groaned. "Imagine what _I'm_ going through, pizza boy."

He shot me this horrified look and I laughed, "Kidding." I assured him. He shot out a hand and shoved me back and I stumbled a few steps, laughing at the look on his face. "You are so gullible."

"Not nice." He mumbled.

"Alright, let's get moving." Rick ordered. I rolled my eyes and opened the fire exit, stepping out into the alleyway with an axe in my hand before Cop-Man could get any more annoying.

There were two Vics trudging around in the alley. I heard Glenn and Rick follow me and someone slam the door shut behind us. That got the Vics' attention, and they spun around to face us. My heart pounded as I struggled not to flinch and turn and bolt it down the other end of the alley. As the three of us dragged our feet to the end of the alley, one of the Vics got into my face, sniffing and inspecting me to see if I was alive. I let out a low moan and moved out of the way, and it walked away uninterested, seemingly convinced that I wasn't food. I mentally sighed and kept moving, slowly and shakily reaching the city bus that had blocked off the alley, getting onto the ground to crawl under it. I could hear squishing sounds as my weight pressed down on my 'meat suit' and bit my lip to hold back a groan. I crawled army-style through until I reached the other side and almost gave up right there, ready to just turn and head back to the alley and take my chances.

The streets were full of them.

Which didn't surprise me, the streets looked like this before the disease hit. Except now, it was dead people. They're moans echoed around the streets and the skittering sound of dragging feet sent shivers down my spine. I lowered my head and walked on, looking up through my bangs at the road ahead. I could see Rick and Glenn on either side of me out the corners of my eyes and made a mental note to keep them in my sights at all times. We weaved our way through the Vics, attempting to attract as little attention as possible as we skulked through the maze of walking bodies.

_"It's gonna work,"_ Glenn whispered, trying not to move his mouth as he spoke, "I can't believe it."

_"Shut up, Glenn!" _I hissed, widening my eyes at him in a 'you're-going-to-get-us-all-killed' type of way.

_"Don't. Draw. Attention."_ Rick whispered. As if to support his statement a particularly dead-looking Vic with blood-matted hair and half a face decided to get cosy with Glenn, nosing in close to him. He shuddered and backed up a little, making a pathetic fake groaning sound to mask his fear. The Vic made a move that looked scarily close to a shrug and walked in another direction, turning around as it walked away to steal a look at Glenn one more time. I looked back ahead of me and tried to steady my breathing which was coming in short, frenzied bursts.

That's when the rain hit.

Literally, _hit_ like someone upstairs was throwing buckets of water on my head to piss me off, and trust me, it was working.

_"Shit!"_ I let out a harsh whisper, nervously glancing at the overcast skies and praying the smell didn't wash away. It was no use. I could literally _feel_ the blood and guts running off of us and onto the concrete, basically giving us each a neon sign above our heads that said 'EAT ME, I'M LIVING. I looked down and saw chunks of Wayne Dunlap falling from my jacket and hitting the ground with sickening splattering sounds. I bit my lip and continued on through the now on-edge Vics. They kept shooting the three of us sceptical glimpses and coming close to inspect us. I started really shaking. If we ever make it out of this, Cop-Man is _so_ dead.

We really started attracting quite the crowd of curious, hungry, Vics and I started to seriously freak out as the growling got louder and louder in my ears against the pattering of rain on the asphalt. I looked over at Rick and didn't try to hide the fear in my eyes as we kept stalking slowly through the streets. He just swallowed nervously and kept moving forward. I turned around slightly to Glenn and saw he was more scared then I was, eyes fleeting from Vic to Vic and his whole body shuddering like a seizure.

"The smell's washing off,"He asked, voice trembling."Isn't it?"

"No, it's not." Rick said forcefully.

_"Both of you, quiet!" _I hissed. If the smell hadn't washed off, the Vics would definitely_ hear _us if they kept blabbing like that!

Somewhere close behind us a Vic let out a low, hungry, growl and Rick shivered, "Well, maybe."

And that was it. I nearly face-palmed myself as the Vic ran at us, mouth sprang open like a bear trap. Glenn yelped as Rick swung his axe into its head and shouted,

_"RUN!"_

I didn't hesitate and made a bee-line for the gate in front of us, dodging my way around Vics and gripping my axe like I was the star quarter-back about to make the winning touch-down. Nothing was going to get in my way. Everything spun into fast-forward as the three of us hacked our way through head after head of undead freaks and got covered in more blood then we already were. A Vic lunged at me and I ducked, sliding to the side and swinging my axe around to chop its head clean off as it fell past me to the ground, a fountain of blood spraying across my face.

The home-stretch to the gates was completely clear and Rick, Glenn, and I made our run for it, motivated by the despondent moans inches behind us. We got within a few feet and the three of us chucked our weapons over the top with a deafening clatter. I jumped and clung to the fence, climbing frantically until my hand clasped around the top bar. I pulled myself up and dropped over onto the other side, hearing my companions land beside me. I stripped off my meat jacket and dropped it to the ground, snatching my magnum from my belt and drawing it to the Vics crowding and climbing at the fence. Rick pulled his .357 and we both proceeded to pick off the Vics closest to the top with precise kill shots.

"Rick!" Glenn shouted and tossed the cop the keys for the cube truck behind us. I lowered my gun and sprinted to the truck with them, yanking open the passenger side door and hurling myself into the middle seat just as a Vic made it over the fence. Rick shut the driver's side door and started the engine just as Glenn pulled in beside me and shut his door. A Vic jumped at Glenn's window and scratched on the glass with bulging, ravenous eyes.

"Go, go, go!" Glenn screamed. Rick didn't hesitate to start backing up and leave the Vic behind. There was a loud clashing noise as the Vics brought down the fence in front of us and I let out a high-pitched squeal as I turned to Rick shouting,

_"DRIVE!"_

I felt the truck shudder as it hit something but Rick ignored it and switched gears on the truck, launching us forward as he slammed the pedal to the floor. Unconsciously my hand grabbed a hold of Glenn's thigh as we swung around a corner and I was nearly crushed into Rick's side.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Glenn started rambling, "They're all over that place!"

"You need to draw them away," Rick said, keeping a level voice. "Those roll-up doors at the front of the store - that area? - That's what I need cleared."

Glenn and I both started to argue but he interrupted again. "Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready."

"A-and I'm drawing the geeks away, how?" Glenn stuttered, "I-I missed that part."

"Noise," Rick said, "So think of something. Fast."

"What?" I asked, "Noise? Like, like what?"

"Like an explosion?" Glenn asked.

"Yeah, got a grenade handy, pizza boy?" I said sarcastically. Then it hit me. "Cars."

"Cars?" Rick asked.

"The alarm!" I said, "It's enough to attract every damn Vic in the city! Trust me, I know from experience."

He nodded as he let the idea play in his head. Satisfied that it would work, he looked at me and said, "Pick one."

I looked out the windshield and smiled when I saw a sweet-looking Mustang sitting lonely and in need of a driver.

"The red one," I ordered, pointing to it. Rick slammed on the brakes and I shoved Glenn out the door, landing on the concrete and racing to the car. Rick pulled out a crowbar and tossed it to me. Catching it gracefully, I smashed in the window and cleared out the shattered glass, the alarm blaring out and ringing in my ears. I reached my arm in and clicked the lock, swinging the door open and sliding into the seat.

"Glenn, go with her." Rick ordered, as the Asian ran around to the passenger's side, the cop turned to me. "Can you start it?"

"Yes, officer, I can hotwire a mustang." I shot him a smile as I ripped off the cowling and turned the switch to start the car. It roared to life and I grinned. "I may need your help with this, though." I said, motioning to the steering wheel. He nodded and gripped the wheel. I clasped my hands around the part on my side and together we yanked on it, hearing a loud snap as we broke the lock.

"Okay, go!" He said, shutting my door and running back to the cube truck. I looked over and shot Glenn a huge grin before sticking the mustang in gear and launching us forward through the streets, the pizza boy holding on for dear life and laughing like crazy.


	6. Livin' the Life

We pulled away and I drove like a mad-woman through the streets, picking up stray Vics as I went and making a meat train behind us.

"Get your radio!" I ordered Glenn, "Tell them to meet Rick at the doors!"

He nodded and hastily pulled out his C.B. as I spun us around a corner, the tires screeching on the concrete.

"Those roll-up doors at the front of the store," He barked into the radio, "facing the street - meet us there and be ready."

I pulled up behind Rick in the cube van and swung us out onto his side, passing him and swerving in front of him to go around another corner towards the front of the department store. I let us drift pass the turn-in a little then slammed my foot down on the brakes, making Glenn nearly smash his face off the dashboard.

"Sorry!" I cried and twisted around to back us up. I reversed right into the horde of Vics, waiting for them to close in so I could draw them away from the doors of the store.

"Come on!" Glenn shouted.

"Living in here!" I screamed. "Get closer, damnit!"

They began to close in and Glenn freaked out, "No windows, Nicole, get us out of here!"

I kept nudging us backwards more and more and then, convinced that the Vics would follow us, stepped on it, pulling a total Knight-Rider move and spinning the car around, pulling out of reverse and shooting forward, a herd of Vics dragging behind us. I kept driving and eventually lost the herd. Breathing hard and pulse racing, I hit the brakes and pulled us to a stop, the alarm still blaring through my head. Glenn shot me this freaked out look and asked,

"Do you even have your license?"

I grinned, "I never even got my permit." He laughed and took his hat off, running his hand through his hair, still breathing hard. The C.B. crackled and I fumbled for it, picking it up just as a voice came through.

_"Glenn? Nicole? This is T-Dog, come in."_

"T-Dog, we got you," I said, "What's going on? You all okay?"

_"Yeah, yeah, Rick got us, we good, we good." _Glenn and I both sighed in relief.

"Good, we'll meet you back at camp then."

Glenn took the radio from me and asked, "What about Merle, man?"

The radio went silent for a minute. _"Nah, man. I dropped the damn key."_

"Ah, shit, Daryl's gonna be _pissed_." Glenn muttered. I stole the radio back.

"Don't worry about it," I said, "The guy was a douchebag. Just make it back to camp, we'll meet you there."

I flicked off the radio and turned to Glenn with a smile,

"You wanna drive?" I asked, smiling. "I don't know where your camp is, anyway."

He completely beamed at me. I laughed and opened my door, running over to his side and sliding in the passenger's seat. I'd barely closed the door and Glenn floored it, slamming his foot down and making my back slam into my seat as he sped us out onto the freeway, both of us laughing and shouting a chorus of 'Booyah's and 'Hell yeah's.

It was the most fun I've had in _years_.

I leaned out the window and let the wind hit my face as we drove along, my short brown hair whipping around and the ripped sleeve on my arm threatening to tear off completely. I didn't care. I reached my hand up and grasped the top of the car, pulling myself up so I was half-sitting on the door, bare legs dangling in the car and the rest of my body outside. I braced myself with one hand and the other was a fist pumping into the air as Glenn laughed at me and I started whooping and screaming to the air in time with the piercing car alarm.

I pulled back into the car as he pulled off onto a side road and the road got bumpy.

"You're crazy," He said, laughing.

"But you love it," I said, smiling. "I'm a good kind of crazy."

He laughed again and turned back to the road. I shook my head as we drove off the freeway and passed Rick and the others in the cube truck, Glenn and I both sticking our arms out the window as we passed and whooping loudly.

"Hell, yeah!" I shouted, turning to Glenn, "Totally the best day I've had since forever."

"Same!" He laughed, "Who knew the world ending would make my life _so_ much cooler?"

"I know, right?" I laughed with him, "Driving a sweet car, pretty girl in the passenger seat, no speed limits to bother with? Livin' the life, Glenn!"

He turned to me and laughed at my comment, "You're I think the most modest person I've ever met, you know."

"I can't help it if I'm awesome, pizza boy." I grinned. "It just comes naturally."

He rolled his eyes and looked back to the road. "So what did you do before all this?"

"I'm gonna make you guess." I smiled.

"Fine, how about, college, you joined a sorority?"

"Hell no! I'd _never_ go to college!"

He laughed. "No college? Ever?"

"None. Ever."

"So, no college," He looked at me and grinned, "No license. Pretty face." He gestured to my outfit - or lack thereof with my short-shorts, strappy sandals and ripped up shirt- "Skimpy outfit... I'm thinking downtown club stripper."

My jaw dropped.

"Glenn!" I smacked his arm and we both burst out laughing. "Jerk!"

"That's what you get for calling me pizza boy!"

"Asshole!"

"_Stripper!"_

I huffed to myself and crossed my arms. I looked out the window as we drove around the edge of this really pretty pristine turquoise quarry and Glenn turned to me with a smile,

"Welcome to Camp." He said. I just grinned as I saw the line-up of cars, tents, campfires, and plenty of people as we pulled in to the clearing.

"Holy crap!" Someone yelled as we stopped the car, alarm still blasting, and climbed out. "Turn that damn thing off!"

"I don't know how!" Glenn shouted. I mentally slapped myself when I realised I hadn't thought to turn the alarm off.

"Pop the hood, please," Another guy told Glenn with a bossy tone.

Some blonde chick ran up to Glenn and started badgering him, "My sister! Andrea-

"Pop the damn hood, please!" The bossy guy repeated.

"Is she okay?" The blonde repeated. "Is she alright?" I guessed the uptight-ness ran in the family.

"Pop the damn hood!"

"Okay!" Glenn shouted, annoyed, getting back in the car, "Okay! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Is she alright?" Blondie persisted. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah!" Glenn shouted, "She's okay! She's okay!"

"Is she coming back?"

"_Yes!"_

I sighed as someone shut the alarm off. _FINALLY._

"Where is she?" Blondie continued in a shrill voice, "She's okay?"

"YES!" Glenn practically growled. Blondie recoiled and Glenn toned down a bit. "Yeah, fine. Everybody is." He paused. "Well, Merle not so much."

"Who's she?" Blondie asked. I flinched, someone finally noticed me, wow. Now suddenly everyone's eyes locked on me, standing on the other side of the Mustang with my hands in my pockets.

"Guys, this is Nicole." Glenn told them, smiling over at me. "We rescued her from the city. She helped us get out here."

The bossy one looked un-amused. "Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? You tryin' to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're okay," An old guy said, giving Glenn and I a comforting half-smile.

"You call being stupid okay?" Bossy-man retorted. I sunk back a bit, hands trying to dig deeper into my pockets.

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills," The old guy defended, "Hard to pinpoint the source." Bossy-man shot him a glare. "I'm not _arguing_, I'm just _saying_." He turned to Glenn, "It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

"Sorry." Glenn muttered. I didn't like the way everyone glared at him so I spoke up.

"Look, it's not Glenn's fault." Glaring eyes switched to me. "I was the one who stole the car in the first place. It's on me, I'm not used to having other people to look out for."

Bossy-man scoffed and rolled his eyes. I shot him daggers and Glenn cleared his throat. "Got a cool car..." He mumbled.


	7. Welcome to Camp

_**Review review people! I'm off for the week! I need reviews to keep me going ! :D**_

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><p>A shriek from Uptight-Andrea and I snapped my head up to see Blondie running to her, both emotional and bawling and hugging each other like they had been on separate sides of the planet. Morales walked down from the truck and a woman and two small kids bombarded him with hugs. It gave me real hope. This guy had his whole family still. That was a miracle.<p>

"Hey, Nikki," I shot an annoyed look at Glenn. I hated people calling me that. He reached out his hand. "Come and meet the group."

I rolled my eyes and took his hand, slipping my arm through his so we linked arms and skipped along, laughing as we went.

"So here's Dale," He said, stopping us in front of the old guy. He reached out his hand and I took it with a smile.

"Nicole Walker," I said. He smiled warmly,

"Welcome to camp, dear." He said. He paused, glancing over at Boss-Man. "And don't worry about Shane, he's just a little... over-protective."

"Yeah, I was starting to get that idea," I answered. Glenn pulled on my arm and dragged me away, and I waved to Dale as we left. The old guy seemed pretty nice.

"Here," Glenn said, "This is Lori and Carl. Guys this is Nicole."

I shook hands with the mother of the 12 year old kid and by the time I was about to turn to the kid I noticed he was gone, running towards Cop-Man Rick with open arms. What the hell? I turned back to Lori and the look on her face read it all. She shoved past me - bitter - and ran to Rick who was now on his knees holding onto the kid. Lori jumped in the group hug and everyone stared in a mixture of confusion and joy.

"Glenn?" I turned to the pizza boy with a questioning look.

"Lori thought he died," Glenn answered, letting out a long breath of air. "Guess she was wrong."

"Huh?"

"Oh, we picked up Rick a minute before we found you. He wasn't part of our group till today."

"Oh." I answered brilliantly, "I thought he was. He kind of just took control."

"Yeah, but saved our asses though."

"Not before he covered our asses in Wayne Dunlap, he didn't."

He groaned, "God, don't remind me."

"Sorry." He laughed.

He led me around the rest of the camp, introducing me to all the people there. I realised Blondie - Amy, wasn't so bad. She warmed up to me pretty quick after she was done crying with Andrea. Her sister could be a bit reclusive but I brushed it off 'cause Amy seemed kind of cool, not to mention she was close to my age. My real age. There was like a four year difference.

Carl, the Cop-Man's kid, introduced me to Sophia, a quiet little girl with a very submissive mother and a douchebag of a father. I restricted my time by their tent to, well, none at all. Ever. I didn't like the way that guy's eyes scanned over my legs like I was his prey. I kind of felt bad for his little wife, Carol. I could tell exactly what went on behind doors from the way she flinched every time her douchebag husband, Ed, whenever he moved and inch.

There was Shane, who had become designated camp leader - since he's such a bossy-ass prick. He'd been Cop-Man's best friend pre-apocalypse (He was a cop, too, which explained the bossy-ness) and he'd taken Lori and Carl in under his protection. Lori a little more than Carl, I had the feeling. Hey, I may be young and naive, but I'm smart enough to pick up on the looks the two were exchanging over Rick's shoulder. I kind of felt bad for Cop-Man, despite the fact he was warped in the head and I was _never_ going to get over what went down in Atlanta.

T-Dog and Jacqui accepted me really quick. I got along with T-Dog cause we both listened to the same kind of music and he found it funny 'cause I'm 'whiter than white'. I didn't care. Music is music, black, white, whatever. T-Dog found that particular trait of mine awesome, since he'd obviously received his fair share of racist comments from Captain Idiot over the past few weeks.

The Morales family were pretty nice, their two kids were really young and reminded me of my old neighbors that I used to babysit. Who are probably all dead now.

_Nicole!_ Jesus, shut the heck up!

Mentally I slapped myself upside the head. Okay, so the world's ended. No need to go all morbid and emotionless.

So there was a few others, Jim, who really creeped me out in a 'he's-going-to-snap-one-day-and-kill-us-all' kind of way. Then a few others who mostly kept to themselves. And Glenn. Then there was Glenn.

Later that afternoon I was sitting in a plastic chair and kicking a rock back and forth between my feet, watching carefully as Shane started a campfire, picking up on how to do it.

"Nikki," Glenn called from the RV, I shot him a glare at my annoying nickname, "Come here!"

I sighed and kicked my rock a final time, standing up and walking over to the overly-smiley Asian standing on the steps of the motor home.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. I was quite happy sitting down. He made me get up. Jerk.

He beamed down at me, "Come here, look what I found!"

He disappeared into the RV and I followed him, dragging myself up the steps. Dale was in the back room, reading a book, Amy and Andrea were sitting at the table, and Glenn was dragging out a box from on top of the cupboards in the little kitchen with a huge-ass smile on his face.

"What is it?" I asked, sitting down next to Amy. He brought the box down and slammed it onto the table between us with a grin.

"You found a board game." Andrea scoffed. "At the end of the world, you want to play a board game."

"Not just _any_ board game." Glenn insisted, spinning the box around so she could read it. "The Game of Life."

I laughed at the irony and flipped the lid off the box, "You are _so_ on, pizza boy."

He grinned at me, "Bring it on, stripper."


	8. Kum Ba Yah

"Oh! Oh! That's what's up! _That's_ what's up!" Glenn was jumping up out of his seat and throwing his fake money down on the table. Amy and I laughed and Andrea buried her face in her hands, shoving $100 Glenn's way without looking at the ecstatic pizza boy. "One _million_ bucks, ladies! One _million!"_

"You do realize it's a game, right?" I asked, grinning. He shook his head and sat back down.

"Don't care. Still beating you, stripper girl."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Spin. Go. Now."

Amy giggled to my side as he took his turn and the spinner de-railed and came off the little platform. Automatic pay $100 to the Accountant to pay for the damage. Guess who. I beamed and Glenn just stared at it, gobsmacked.

"OH!" I shouted, jumping up from my seat and slamming my hand down on the table, mimicking the uber-smug-Asian from a minute ago. "_That's_ what's up! _Bite_ me, pizza boy! Pay up!"

He sighed and handed me a beloved fluorescent orange $100 bill and I yanked it away, adding it to my pile with a huge smile.

* * *

><p>The game continued on back and forth like that, Glenn and I keeping a steady tie through most of it and Amy and Andrea falling way behind. By the end, I had the beach house, four kids, and I was an accountant. Boo. Yah. Glenn was the Teacher and the Cop, which I found really funny, had six kids - which I found even more entertaining, and he had lost his 1 million bucks to debt over his house.<p>

Fail.

Just as Glenn was about to freak out about losing the game, Shane peered his head into the RV.

"Grub's up, kids." He said with a smirk and then disappeared outside again. Glenn groaned and followed Andrea outside. I stood up and stretched, Amy still sitting at the table behind me.

"You're going to have to tell me your story," She said suddenly, "I'm really curious."

I turned to look at her and smiled, "It's really not that interesting."

"Bullshit." She smiled. "You were living on your own up there. How'd you survive?"

I sighed, "Tell you at the campfire? I have a feeling a lot of people will want to hear."

"Promise?" She stuck out her pinkie and I hooked my finger in hers.

"Promise."

I turned around and reached up above the counter to put the game away. "Hey, what else is up there?" She asked, standing up. "Anything good?"

I laughed, "Well let's see..." My hand picked up another box and Amy giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Oh my gosh, we _so_ have to play it."

I grinned down at the 'Twister' box and nodded. "Oh, yes." I said. "I have a plan."

* * *

><p>"So guys, Nicole volunteered to tell us her story." I groaned. I could have totally slapped Amy right there. I did <em>not<em> want to go into this right now. Everyone looked over at me expectantly and I laughed, giving in.

"Jeez, fine, I'll spill." I took a deep breath and looked into the fire. "So when everything really blew up, I was in Atlanta with my step-dad on one of his business trips. I _had _to go this time since I had nothing else to do and was, well, shall we say, getting into the wrong crowds." I saw Amy and Glenn whisper to each other across the fire and even from this distance saw Glenn mouth the word 'stripper'. I glared at him and picked up a rock, throwing it at him. It completely missed the target and his arm instead, but I still got the desired effect.

"Ow!" He cried out, frowning at me. "That _hurt!"_

I stuck my tongue at him and rolled my eyes, continuing my story. "Anyway, we were staying in this company apartment, and some of the neighbors started, you know, going missing. After they really started to hit the streets we locked the doors and stayed inside." I paused and tried to control my breathing. "After 'bout a week, we had to go get supplies, so my step-dad volunteered to run down to the department store," I nodded to T-Dog and Glenn and the rest of them, "The one where you guys were. He was the one that barricaded the alleyways. Figured it could help other people, too." I paused and ran a hand threw my hair as everyone watched me intently. "On his way back, he got injured. I guess the Vics- er, Victims, the walkers, picked up on his scent, and he had a huge herd following him back. He, uh, couldn't lose them. He was halfway back when he-" I swallowed hard and saw tears swimming in my eyes as I remembered his voice over the C.B. "He got bit. He uh, he stole a grenade from this dead soldier and, well, took all the walkers in the building with him."

"Oh, Nicole..." Dale whispered. I blinked away my tears and my voice hardened. I don't need pity from these people.

"That's why I was stuck on the upper floors." I continued flatly. "The explosion took out the stairs. I was able to get enough supplies from the floors I get to, and I stayed for a few weeks, until you guys showed up. You know the story from there."

"What did you do, before all this?" Amy asked.

"I, uh," I wracked my brain for a lie that made sense. "I was a struggling musician."

"That's awesome," Carl said, smiling, "So do you play an instrument?"

"Yeah," I beamed, _this_ I didn't have to lie about. "Piano, guitar, and I sing a little."

"Sweet!" The kid laughed, "Maybe we'll find a guitar someday and we can have a sing-a-long."

"Everybody know kum-ba-yah?"


	9. Campfire Stories

**Newww chapter guys !**

**Thanks for the reviews! Need more!**

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><p>The campfire circle got real quiet, real fast. The silence bothered me. Especially nowadays, it just puts me on edge. When I was camping out in that apartment complex, I always had some type of noise, whether it be me humming the beat of my favorite <em>Eminem<em> song or the scratching of my pencil when I was drawing in my sketchbook. The only sound right now was the slight crackling of the campfire and the faint song of crickets in the fields behind us. It wasn't enough noise for me. Not nearly. I had to break it.

"So, Rick," I started, "Care to tell us _your_ story?"

"Yeah, man, we're curious." T-Dog added.

Rick smiled and took a sigh, "Well, where do I start? First thing I remember, after gettin' shot, is waking up in that hospital, completely on my own. I guess the one thing I was feeling the most was, well, disoriented... I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion - all of those things, but, disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meagre things." Dale muttered, setting down his drink. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life," Rick continued, "And put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from, ever."

"Mom said you died." Carl said quietly.

"She had every reason to believe that." Rick told him. I wondered if he was trying to convince his son, or himself, the way he said it. "Don't you ever doubt it."

I saw Lori unconsciously look to Shane and knew I was definitely right about my theory from before. There was definitely some post-apocalypse bed-hopping going on there.

"When things started to get really bad," Lori said, "They told me at the hospital that, they were gonna Med-Evac you and the other patients to Atlanta... and it never happened."

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."

"Yeah."

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive." Shane jumped in. "I barely got _them_ out, you know." He motioned to Lori and Carl.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane." Yeah, grateful he's banging your wife, dude. Jeez, open your eyes. Anyone can look at Lori and see how ashamed she looks right now. "I can't begin to express it."

"There go those words falling short again." Dale said with a comforting smile. "Paltry things."

"There was something my mom used to say, about words," I spoke up, "'Please God, make my words sweet and tender today, for tomorrow I may have to eat them."

"You are _such_ a nerd." Glenn muttered.

"No, no," Dale held up a hand to him, "That's very insightful. Your mother was a wise woman."

I smiled. "She was."

Glenn shrunk back into his seat and I shook my head, laughing.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane looked up at the Peletier's as their fire burned a little higher than everyone else's.

"It's cold, man." Ed muttered.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane spoke in a tone of voice that made me want to nod my head and look at the floor. "Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said, it's cold." Ed snapped. "You should mind your own business for once."

Everyone watched in silence as Shane got up and stormed over to their campfire, ready to put Ed in his place. Ed scanned his eyes over the rest of us, testing us. His eyes fell over mine and I shrunk away, eyes dropping to the fire in front of me and arms tightening around my knees. That guy gave me the absolute creeps. We all sat in a thick pressing silence as Shane dealt with the fire and returned back over to his seat at ours.

There was a long pause and then Dale spoke up,

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" He asked Shane. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

That's all we need, someone sharing blood with Captain Idiot. I couldn't imagine what this guy was going to be like.

"I'll tell him." T-Dog said, "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him." Rick interrupted, "That makes it mine."

"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn said. "I don't mean to bring race into this," He turned to T-Dog slightly, "But, it might sound better coming from a white guy."

He had a point. If this 'Daryl' guy was anything like his douchebag brother? We'd be in for hell.

T-Dog swallowed nervously. "I did what I did." He said. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie." Amy said.

"Or tell the truth," Andrea countered. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She looked to Lori, "Your husband did what was necessary."

"When is it ever necessary to leave someone to die?" I cut in. Suddenly I felt like I had a million eyes lock onto me like I was wearing red at a funeral. I sighed and kept going, anyway. "I agree, Merle wasn't exactly little miss sunshine. But I don't think he needed to die because of it. I mean, come on, by leaving him there we've indirectly killed the guy. That's going to weigh on all of us, now."

"I disagree." Andrea countered, "It shouldn't weigh on anyone's conscience. If Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault, but Merle's."

"And that's what we _tell_ Daryl?" Dale asked. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared," T-Dog said, "And I ran. I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared." Andrea said. "We all ran. What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door." He explained. Everyone's heads perked up and listened a little closer. "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain. Not that padlock." He paused. "My point- Dixon's alive. And he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

T-Dog stood and went to his tent while he let that sink in. Well, hell. That means first thing we do when his brother gets back, is go into the city to get him, right? And how the heck are we going to do that? Just waltz in past all the Vics - 'walkers' - un-cuff him, leave, and 'oh, happy days'? Yeah freaking right! If anyone went to try and get him back, they'd be screwed just as badly as he is. Is it really worth it?

After a while, the 'Grimes Family' disappeared down to their tent and Shane and Dale retreated to the RV to keep watch. I sat at the fire with Amy, Andrea, and Glenn, partly because I enjoyed the company, and partly because I still had no clue where I was supposed to be sleeping tonight. That was one thing I'd forgotten to ask when I'd been invited to stay at the camp. Uh, duh, Nicole. Where are you going to sleep? The ground?

"So, uh, guys," I started, smiling at the awkward question, "Any spare tents lying around?"

Amy laughed, "God, it didn't even dawn on me. You don't have anywhere to sleep, do you?"

I shook my head and sighed. "Nope."

"You could ask around," Andrea suggested, "If there's not a completely spare tent, there will be someone willing to share, at least."

"Ooh, roomies. I talk in my sleep. Sounds like a bad plan."

"No, no," Glenn said with a grin, "I'm kind of curious to find out what you say in your sleep."

"What do you mean?"

"People are supposed to spill their _deepest secrets _when they sleep-talk." Amy chided.

I turned to Glenn and flipped him off, shaking my head while everyone laughed.

"Not like I have any _deep secrets_ anyway, pizza boy."

He snorted. "Apart from the fact that you're a _stripper_."

"Asshole! You're never going to drop that, are you?"

"Ever gonna stop calling me pizza boy?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Never."

"Well then. Stripper Nikki it is."

I looked away, mumbling how much of a jerk he was under my breath while Amy and Andrea laughed.

"Stripper?" Andrea raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head,

"He wishes." I said, shooting a glare at Glenn, "I told him he had to guess what I did before all this. That was his answer."

Andrea chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Well you have to admit," Glenn said, "It makes sense."

"Jerk!" I picked up another rock and threw it at him, this time it landed pretty hard on his leg, just a few inches away from the 'family jewels'. He winced and rocked forward, groaning.

"Ow..."

"Teaches you to make fun of me, pizza boy." I smiled, "Next time I won't miss."

He growled at me and sat back up, rubbing the side of his leg. I just gave him a sweet and innocent smile.

"There's room in the RV," Amy said, a laugh playing through her voice, "If you want. On the floor, anyway."

I turned back to her, "Sure, anything will work. As long as I don't have to share a tent with _him_ while he listens to me _sleep-talk_."


	10. Operation Cool Car

_**Disclaimer : Usually I don't see the point in doing this but since I do mention quite a few things in here I'll just say it anyway. I don't own anything in my story but Nicole and her spunky attitude. But if I did own at least half the stuff in my story, I would probably die of sheer bliss, honest to God.**_

_**Anyway, enjoy this chapter... it's mainly Nicole / Glenn cuteness. :) ...Your welcome...**_

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><p>I couldn't hear much besides water lapping gently at the shore and birds singing somewhere off in the distance. There weren't any voices or footsteps or any indication of really anything around me, yet I was surrounded by a few dozen men going about their business. The silence once again put me on edge... but it shouldn't have. The scene that stretched out before me, the picturesque turquoise water and the almost marble rocks was too beautiful for anything to bother me. I rolled my eyes as I looked over and saw yet another member of my 'Hot Guy List' saunter past with a polite wave and a heart melting smile. The sun was warm and comforting and I felt relaxed sitting on the hood of one very pretty red car, my hair down for once and framing my face in messy brunette waves. I was wearing some ripped up shorts and a tight <em>Linkin Park<em> T-shirt, my combat boots covered in dirt and loosely tied. I smiled back at Bradley Cooper and sighed to myself. I knew it wasn't a dream, since Adam Levine was in the next car over, with his shirt still on. Damn. If only. Oh, wait... there it goes. I'm dreaming. Sweet.

My eyes fluttered open and I sighed, rubbing my forehead and sitting up slowly. I opened my eyes and jumped a mile in the air before I realized where I was again. Dale's RV. Campsite in the hills. It's safe, Nicole. You're safe. Calm down.

"Morning, Nikki." My head snapped up at Glenn's voice and I squinted my eyes at him. He was sitting at the table next to me, grinning, a book in his hands.

"Morning, pizza boy." He laughed and shook his head,

"So, heard you talking this morning..."

"Screw you, Glenn."

He chuckled, "Not a morning person. Got it."

I rolled my eyes and used the table to pull myself up, reaching for my bag and sliding into the seat across from Glenn. He went back to nerd-ing out and stuck his nose in his book. I dug into my bag and found my toothbrush, toothpaste, and my little makeup bag, grabbing them and retreating to the tiny ass bathroom in the back of the RV.

When I finished, I could have passed for twenty. A short twenty-year-old, but still, twenty. The blessing of my talent with makeup and being -cough- rather gifted in the chest region. I could keep this up forever. I'd have to. For one, I hate being treated like a kid... If these people all knew my age, they wouldn't let me go anywhere without supervision. I'd be stuck in with Carl and Sophia and the Morales kids and I'd go crazy. I'm older than my age. I always have been. I can handle myself just fine - and if they knew I was fifteen... they would write me off. I'd rather be out on the front lines doing all I can to help out instead of stuck behind the curtains and have people assigned to protect me. I can protect myself. I don't need a damn babysitter.

I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed the half-destroyed t-shirt from my bag, slipping it on over my tank top. I didn't exactly have another change of clothes so my shorts, tank top, bra, current pair of underwear, and my ripped-up shirt was all I was going to get. This sucks.

"What you reading?" I asked Glenn casually while I tied my hair back in a low bun. He flipped the book up and showed me the title, _Eragon_. I laughed. "Good book."

He set the book down and raised his brows at me. "You've read it?"

"Yeah, no duh!" I smiled, "All of them. Paolini's a genius. Okay, so I _may_ be a bit of a nerd, on occasion."

"On occasion." He repeated, laughing. "Wouldn't happen to be a Trekky, huh?"

"Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, you name it." As I spoke I saw his eyes get bigger and bigger.

"Wow." He laughed and grabbed his book, standing up.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Whatever, pizza boy." He rolled his eyes at me and started walking out of the RV. I closed my bag up and followed him, grinning.

"Nikki the nerdy stripper," He muttered as I hopped down the steps beside him, "Your just setting yourself up for this, you know."

I punched his arm and he flinched back. "Woah! Violence never solves anything!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah, I'll bet-" His sentence disappeared as he looked over to the Mustang. I could almost literally see his heart drop with the look of complete betrayal and hurt on his face.

"Glenn?"

He groaned. "Oh, the _car!"_

"The what?" I asked, "The- oh."

I could have cried. I could have curled up in a ball and just cried. They were stripping my car. My Mustang. My beautiful little red car that got us out of Atlanta and saved everyone's asses, and they were tearing it apart, piece by piece. Heartless frigid bunch of-

"Morning Glenn, Nicole." I heard Rick's voice but I kept my eyes on my slowly dying car.

"Look at 'em." Glenn muttered to Cop-Man. "Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean."

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get." Dale said. "Got no power without it." He reached out and patted both our shoulders. "Sorry, kids."

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." Glenn mumbled.

"I wanted to take it up and down the freeway," I added, "You know, record my best times."

"When you get your license, Nikki." I hit his arm again.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday," Rick said, walking off.

"I sure freaking hope so." I mumbled. "Three things I miss most about what life used to be like. My Xbox, _Quantum Leap_ re-runs, and my cars. God, I miss cars."

"Why so big on cars when you don't even have a license?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"My bio-dad was a total gear-head. He owned a car shop and I worked there most days. If I wasn't out playing football with my brother I was underneath a car with a wrench."

He laughed, "So no pink dresses and pigtail braids in your childhood, I take it."

"Only in my nightmares, Glenn." I smiled, "That's what you get from growing up with a bunch of brothers. I lost every ounce of feminism the minute my dad handed me a controller and taught me to play _Call of Duty._"

He sighed and looked back over at the now almost dead Mustang. "It's kind of depressing, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. Very." I crossed my arms and glared as Dale rolled a tire past us. "That's it, I'm declaring our next trip to Atlanta." I raised my voice into an encouraging speech-type voice and jumped up onto a nearby tire, "Operation 'Cool Car'. In order to replace that which we have lost, and repent against those who would strive to destroy our dreams of driving in style! We will ride into Atlanta on the stallion of revenge and we will take back that which is ours, our freedom to drive Mustangs and Lamborghini's! We will have our reward! We _will_ receive payment for our hard work! WE WILL GET A COOL CAR!"

We both busted out laughing and gave me a high five, "Amen!"

Dale and Jim rolled their eyes at us as we doubled over and I felt my eyes start to water I was laughing so hard.


	11. High School Bully

_**Woahhh okay so next chapter, bit of Nicole being... well... Nicole. Name-calling, attitude, zombie killing, and Greenday. Yum.**_

_**Oh yeah, and enter the Redneck Wonder, this chapter. Sorry about this in advance to all you Daryl Dixon fans... Nicole pretty much hates him at first. Trust me, she'll warm up to him eventually ! Promise !**_

_**Disclaimer : All I own is my Nicole!**_

_**Willow the Collie: She's 15 :) She says that in the later chapters, so read up ! And glad I entertain you ! I do try x)**_

_**DrewSmith93: Ahhaha a list of my favorite lines, too! I needed Nicole to have a good sense of humour since everyone else in camp are so freaking stiff, you know? And I have BIG plans for that twister game ! Just you wait...**_

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><p>We stopped laughing long enough to go and get water from Shane's jeep, remembering to 'boil before use' - yes, mom. I lifted a huge jug and went to set it over by the RV. As I was leaning over, a spine-chilling scream broke through the camp.<p>

"Carl!" Mrs Bed-Hopper Lori and Cop-Man were the first to react, both running at the speed of light to the source of the scream. I grabbed a crowbar from the ground and sprinted after them into the trees. We came into a clearing and found Carl, Jacqui, and Sophia running into us. The kids latched onto their moms and Jacqui pointed to a spot in the bushes. I gripped my crowbar tighter and raced forward with the guys of the camp into another clearing, just outside of the camp boundary. I ducked under the 'fence' of cans on string and flinched when I saw it.

There was a huge broad-shouldered 'walker' hovering over a deer and munching on its innards. I had to do a double take. I'm pretty sure those were arrows sticking out of the deer's side. Someone else killed the deer first. Lazy-ass Vic, feeding off something that someone else killed for it.

I pretty much slapped myself internally for being an idiot. Sick sense of humour, Nicole. Well done.

That's when it decided to turn around. It stood up and suddenly loud out a deep growl. We silenced it quickly by beating it repeatedly with our weapons. Crowbar to the stomach. Pitchfork to the shoulder. Baseball bat to the head.

Axe to the neck.

Dale took the head clean off and we all stood there panting over the now twice-dead body.

"That's the first one we've had up here." Dale said in a shaky voice, "They _never_ come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." said Jim.

"Great," I mumbled, "Just great."

Branches snapping in the bushes made us all jump on our toes, lots of pointy sticks and blunt objects facing the invisible figure. Another set of footsteps and a man emerged from the bushes. I blinked a few times. He didn't look very dead.

"Son of a _bitch!" _The guy growled. Okay, not dead. "That's _my_ deer!

He strolled over to the carcass and started kicking it.

"Look at it, all gnawed on by this, _filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy bastard!"_

Talk about your anger management problems. I put my bet on the hot-headed redneck being Captain Idiot's brother. There was certainly a resemblance.

"Calm down, son, that's not helping." Dale said. The voice of reason as always.

"What do you know about it, old man?" The Redneck Wonder got in Dale's face and I wanted to shove my crowbar down his throat. No need to take it out on Dale. He's a sweet old guy. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?"

"Dude, chill out." I shot at him. Yeah, there was definitely some type of relation to Captain Idiot. The glare I was getting resembled him way too close.

"Who the hell are you, little girl?" Everyone went quiet while he got in my face.

I rolled my eyes. "Someone not afraid to tell you to shut the hell up. It's just a damn deer Little Miss _Mood-swing_."

He took a step forward at me but Shane put out his arm to hold him back.

"We don't need this, Daryl." He said forcefully. "Nicole's got a point."

Of course I do, officer. I rolled my eyes and walked back to camp with my head held high. It's been a long time since I was able to do that. I felt like a boss.

"Holy crap, Nikki!" Glenn was staring at me in disbelief as we walked back to camp.

"What?"

"I've never seen anyone talk like that to a Dixon." He shook his head.

"He was being a dick. I was only defending Dale."

"Still. It took some major guts."

"Bullshit. Killing a walker takes guts. I was telling an asshole where he could go."

He laughed. "Once you've been here for a while, you'll see why no one wanted to stand up to him."

"You talk about the guy like he's a damn high school bully." I raised my brows at him and grinned. "Grow a pair, pizza boy."

"_Stripper_." He muttered, walking ahead of me to the RV. I shook my head and followed, hearing everyone else return to camp behind us. I got to the RV and planted myself down at the table, reaching for my bag and pulling out my phone. It was pretty much the only thing I had that reminded me of what things used to be like. I'd packed for a trip when I came to Atlanta, so I had a spare battery and a car charger. If I didn't use it often, I could keep it going for a long time.

It was my cure for boredom. While there was no one to text and no signal if I wanted to anyway - and not to mention no internet - I had all my song lyrics on my phone, memo-pads filled with ideas for stories, and about 6GB worth of music and my favorite TV show episodes. Entertainment for hours.

I stuck in my headphones and leaned back in the seat, putting my feet up and turning the volume up on _Greenday._ Ahh, bliss. I reached into my bag and found my sketchbook and pencils, determined to finish that drawing of a vampire I started a few weeks back. I stared down at it with an artist's eye, picking out imperfections and fixing them swiftly with my wand of graphite. I was a magician, bringing my thoughts to life on the page. I was a_ hero_, telling my brave tale to the paper.

I was being stared at from across the table.

"What, Amy?" I said, taking out my headphones.

She laughed. "It's almost as if the world never ended."

"Huh?" Brilliant answer, Nicole.

"You! Look at you! Sitting there listening to music, drawing in a notepad."

"So what? So I didn't want to change my lifestyle."

"So, it's just funny. Like the apocalypse didn't even phase you."

I laughed. "Damn right it didn't phase me. I was in my own world before everything went to Hell. Now I can really live it."

She laughed and shook her head. I turned my head to the door as I heard deep voices arguing and saw everyone fall into a big crowd outside.

"What's going on?" I asked. Amy shrugged and I set down my stuff, heading to the door to find out what the hell was happening. I reached the door and saw the hot-headed Redneck Wonder having a stand-off with Shane. You could almost _feel_ the testosterone radiating off of them.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick walked into the circle.

"Who are you?" The redneck - Daryl - spat at him.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick _Grimes? _You got somethin' you wanna _tell_ me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick said calmly. "So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

_Finally_ someone not afraid to tell it like it is.

"Hold on, let me process this." Daryl started heating up. "You saying you handcuffed my _brother_ to a _roof, _and you just _left him there?"_

"Yeah." Rick muttered.

That was all it took. Daryl threw his string of squirrels at Rick and jumped at him. Shane tackled him from the side and they hit the ground hard, Shane rolling off when Daryl pulled a knife and stood up. He swung at Rick and he dodged it swiftly, swiping the knife while Shane pulled him into a wrestling hold.

"You best let me go!" Daryl scrambled against Shane to no avail.

"Ah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane said.

"Choke hold's illegal."

"You can file a complaint," Shane said, "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

Rick knelt down in front of him while Shane held him. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?"

"Hmm?" Shane let him go and dropped him to the ground.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick said, "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault." T-dog cut in from behind them. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl spat.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl scoffed at him. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Maybe this will," T-dog said, "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something." Rick insisted.

"Hell with all y'all!" Daryl shouted. "Just tell me where he is. So's I can go _get_ him."

"He'll _show_ you." Lori cut in, looking to her husband with a pair of white-hot daggers. Can't say no to wifey, Cop-Man. "Isn't that right?"

Rick looked to everyone in turn and then nodded.

"I'm going back."

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Well let's _go_ then. What you waitin' on?"

I sighed and went back to the RV, making sure I couldn't hear my own _thoughts_ over my music.


	12. Backup from a Woman

"So you and _Daryl, _that's your big plan?" Bed-Hoppin'-Bitch was wearing down Rick, trying to convince him not to go on the trip to Atlanta to get Captain Idiot.

Rick turned around and looked to Glenn, again.

"Oh, come on." The kid groaned.

"You know the way." He told him, "You've been there before. In and out, no problem, you said so yourself."

Glenn took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair. "It's not fair of me to ask," Rick continued, "I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." He waved towards Mrs Bed-Hopper.

"That's just great," Boss-man Shane spat, annoyed. "Now you're gonna risk _three_ men, huh?"

"Four." T-Dog told him.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl scoffed at him.

"You see anybody else steppin' up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Why _you?"_

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four." Jim said.

I sighed. "Five." Glenn shot me an 'are-you-crazy' look. Yes I am, pizza boy. And damn proud of it. "I know the area just as well as Glenn. Like I said, my step-dad and I set up those barricades. And if not anything else, I'm an extra gun if you need backup."

"Don't need backup from no woman." The Redneck huffed.

I narrowed my eyes. "You'd be surprised what a _woman_ can do with a gun. We've all had to adapt."

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"Positive. I know what it's like out there. You'll need all the help you can get if you're going to make it out alive."

Shane turned to Rick, "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you _saw_ that walker! It was _here._ It was _in camp_. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to _protect_ camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here, are more guns."

Yes, more guns, genius. More guns to attract more walkers. More walkers to bring more death. Brilliant.

"Right, the guns!" Glenn got all excited next to me.

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked. Good question, bro.

"Six shotguns, two high-power rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?"

"Seven hundred rounds, assorted."

"You went through _hell_ to find us." Lori said. "You just got here, and you're gonna turn around and _leave?"_

"Dad," Carl said, "I don't want you to go."

"To hell with the guns," Mrs Bed-Hopper continued, "Shane is _right_." Well of course you think he's right, Lori. "Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even _with_ the guns thrown in."

"Who cares who it is," I stepped forward. "We're saving someone's life, here. We're fixing what we did wrong. This shouldn't even be a debate."

The redneck's eyes locked on mine. "Look," I said, "I'm not defending your idiot brother, not in the slightest. I'm just saying, if we don't go and do this, we've got his blood on our hands. Do we really want that?"

"The end of the world doesn't mean we forget our morals," Dale agreed, "And lose our sense of humanity. I agree with Nicole on this one. Guns or not, this will rest on our conscience if you don't fix this."

Bed-Hopping-Bitch ignored us and went over to Rick. "Tell me. Make me understand."

"I owe a debt," Rick said, "To a man I met, and his little boy." Lori pointed to Carl, about to speak, but Rick cut her off. "Lori. If they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn them."

She shook her head. "What's stopping you?"

"The walkie-talkie. The one in the bag I dropped." Rick explained. "He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"Is it our walkies?" Shane shook his head. He already knew the answer.

"Yeah." Rick sighed.

"So use the CB," Andrea suggested, "What's wrong with that?"

"The CB's fine," Shane said, "It's the walkies that suck to crap. Date back to the 70's, don't match any other bandwidth, not even the scanners in our cars."

"I need that bag." Rick said. Mrs B-H nodded and Cop-Man went down the kneel beside Carl. "Okay?" The kid nodded. "Alright."

"Let's go, then." Daryl muttered. "Now we're done with your little family _discussion_."

"God, shut _up, _you're worse than your _brother_._"_ I rolled my eyes at him and walked past towards the cube van. Glenn smirked at me and shook his head, walking up beside me. When we were out of earshot he started laughing,

"I can't believe you."

"What?"

He chuckled, "This trip is going to be interesting. I'm not looking forward to pulling you and Daryl off of each other when one of you starts a fight."

I laughed, "That guy does not have the balls to throw a punch at me. Trust me, Glenn. I know his type."

"Do you?"

I rolled my eyes and climbed into the driver's seat of the cube van, starting her up.

"Just sit down, pizza boy." I ordered. He shot me a glare and sat down in the passenger seat while I backed up the van closer to the campsite.


	13. Redneck Rescue Mission

The Redneck Wonder jumped in the back of the van as soon as I hit the brakes. I rolled my eyes when he shot a glare in my direction and stood up to go get my Magnum from my bag in the RV. I saw Glenn hop into the driver's seat and cursed under my breath. He's never going to let me drive again.

I reached the RV and Amy stepped in front of the steps, blocking my way.

"Are you sure you want to go?" She asked quietly.

"I have to help, Amy," I said, "I don't like feeling useless."

"Okay, fine, but promise you'll make it back?"

"Promise."

"Good. 'Cause we've got to get Glenn to play Twister with us."

"Don't worry," I grinned, "We will."

I gave her a hug and then retrieved my gun from my bag, tossing my bag in the back room and making sure I had an eyeliner in my pocket just in case. I figured the gun could be my backup, so I grabbed a baseball bat that was lying at a campfire and swung it over my shoulder. The weight was nice and I knew I was going to enjoy using it. I got an encouraging nod, hug, and 'good luck, Nikki' from Jacqui, Carl, Sophia, Andrea, and Carol and then hopped back in the cube van, dropping myself down across from hot-headed Daryl and setting my magnum down at my side.

"Plan on firin' that in the city?" Spat his thick southern accent.

"Only if I have to." I said calmly.

"You wanna draw down every geek in Georgia on us with that thing?"

I rolled my eyes and looked over at him. He had this permanent sneer etched into his face and was staring me down. Out the corner of my eye I saw Glenn turn around in his seat to watch us.

"I'll only fire it if I have to." I repeated.

"Jus' sayin', don't want to get bit just 'cause some little girl wants to wave around her daddy's gun."

I sighed. What. An. Asshole. "Do you need me to say it slower for you? Dumb it down a bit? I'll only use it when I absolutely need it. I have a baseball bat."

"Whatever." He stood up and went over to the main cab of the truck, leaning over Glenn and stomping his foot on the horn. He turned around and shouted out to Rick and T-Dog, "Come on, let's go!"

Boss-Man Shane gave Rick a few rounds for his gun and then we were off, Rick in the passenger's seat and T-Dog in the back with me and the Redneck Wonder. I was more than ready for this 'mission' of ours. It was my chance to prove that I can be just as much help as Rick or Shane or whoever. I'm as big a voice as they are. I can do this.

"He'd better be okay." Daryl shot at T-Dog, "That's my only word on the matter."

"I told you, the geeks can't get at him." T-Dog said. "The only thing that's gonna get through that door, is us."

I felt the truck stop and Glenn shut the engine off.

"We walk from here." He told us. We all hopped out of the cube truck and onto a set of railroad tracks, each with a weapon grasped tightly in our hands. I took the baseball bat I'd stolen from back at the camp and held it half-raised, ready to take out anything that decided to take a bite at me. We reached a fence and Glenn and I led the group to a cut-out spot where you could roll it back and climb through.

"Merle first, or guns?" Rick turned to Glenn and me as we climbed through the fence.

"Merle!" Daryl shouted. "We ain't even _havin'_ this conversation!"

"We _are."_ Rick snapped emphatically. He turned back to us, "You two know the geography, it's your call."

I looked to Glenn and he shrugged, "Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back."

"Yeah, Merle first." I agreed.

"Lead the way," Rick said. Glenn and I jogged up further, towards the alleyway that led into the department store.

"Any ideas on how we're going to get those guns?" Glenn asked, jumping over a barricade and into the alley.

"A few." I answered, landing on the other side. "Just not any that you're going to like."

"Great. Same here."

I sighed and kicked open one of the side-doors to the store, baseball bat at head-level to take out any greedy walkers. I heard the rest of the group shuffle in behind me but took a steady lead, moving through the halls quickly and quietly. I turned a corner into the main store and heard an extra set of dragging footsteps. Rick pointed to a spot in front of the counter and I took a deep breath when I saw it. Daryl took this one, raising his crossbow up to eye-level and stalking over to it.

"Damn," He muttered, "You are one ugly skank."

He fired the crossbow and I heard a soft hiss of air and a sickening crack as it embedded itself in the dead girl's brain. Daryl retrieved his arrow and we continued through the store and onto the stairs, climbing the steps two at a time to the top. T-Dog pushed to the front with hiscutters and I backed up to let him cut the chain on the floor and let it drop to the ground. Daryl kicked the door open and ran out, shouting for his brother.

It was no use. Merle wasn't there. Well, at least, not all of him.

I looked down in disgust at the severed hand lying in a pool of blood on the ground and _wished_ I had an empty stomach. Oh, that's just great. Poor bastard cut his own freaking hand off.

A loud click and Daryl's crossbow was aimed at T-Dog's face. A millisecond later Rick's revolver was level with the Redneck's brain. My hands tightened around my baseball bat pathetically.

"I won't hesitate." Rick said calmly. "I don't care if every walker in the city hears it."

Daryl hesitated for a moment. I could see he was a mixture of pissed off and hurt. His brother could be anywhere by now. He lowered the crossbow and squinted at T-Dog through the beating sunlight.

"You got a do-rag or som'n?" He asked. T-Dog handed him a blue handkerchief and he swiped it, heading over to kneel by the mess Captain Idiot had made by the pipe. He dropped it on the ground and spread it out flat, picking up the hand and examining it. What the hell, dude. I would have at least picked it up with the _handkerchief_. God, that's gross.

"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs," He said, "Ain't that a bitch."

He sighed and wrapped the hand up, standing up and motioning for Glenn to turn around so he could shove it in his backpack. I saw Glenn wince as he zipped it back up, disgusted with the fact that he had a _human hand_ sitting in his backpack.

Seriously fucked up, Daryl.


	14. Most Likely to Fight Back

_**Ahhh! Exams suck!**_

_**So sorry I haven't updated! *BAD, BAD, LOLA!***_

_**Anyway, here's the next chapter xD**_

_**Bit of random humour. I was bored, so what the hey, I had to make this scene more interesting.**_

_**REVIEW!**_

**_nekuranekomegami : Thanks! Glad you like Nicole.. I'm real proud of her xD_**

**_Ida-J : Well here it is! Hope you like xD_**

**_Matty: Thanks! And I figured it's the end of the world, people can't just all become humour-less statues, you know? Hence Nicole xD And the pizzaboy/stripper thing wasn't even planned... it just sort of happened, so glad you like it !_**

**_Azure's Temptation : I am SO continuing this, so don't worry! Just been busy with exams and finals recently. College bites xD And glad I make you scared for her, lol! It is my goal to make my readers care about Nicole xD And with the whole age thing, you'll find out soon how they deal with that xD And I know she's kind of young, but then again most 15 year olds I know would probably last longer then I would in the ZA! Especially if they watch zombie movies all the time ! xD_**

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><p>"That's just wrong on so many levels." I muttered, scrunching up my nose at the severed <em>hand<em> in Glenn's backpack. I knew for sure that no matter _how_ freaking hungry I got, those granola bars at the bottom of the bag were getting _nowhere_ near my mouth. Daryl shot a glare my way then looked away, lifting his crossbow and following the trail of dried blood along the roof. He hadn't given up on his brother just yet.

"This way," He muttered, jerking his head forward as he stalked off across the roof. We reached an open door and the five of us flooded in cautiously, various weapons raised warily and ready. I took up the rear as we slowly made our way down a flight of stairs, looking over the railings to check for anything on the lower floors.

"Merle!" Daryl called out, "Merle you in here?"

I rolled my eyes. What was it with these people? Did they just have no clue how to keep hidden? 'Okay, Daryl, let's shout out to the 'walkers' on the lower floors so they know there's food on the way and they come and eat us'. Brilliant.

"Nicole," Glenn whispered. I turned around and he jerked his head towards a door in front of me. I heard the tell-tale shuffling of feet and let Daryl go first, trusting his crossbow over my baseball bat. There was a _swoosh _of the arrow and then the rest of us entered the hall after him. There were a few empty offices, papers scattered everywhere and dried blood decorating the walls. There was a large room at the end of the hall and Daryl led us down towards it. As we checked the offices for Walkers I spotted that Rick had his revolver in his hands. I noticed Daryl hadn't gone off on a bitch-fit about _his_ gun, but he had on _mine. _That made me feel so special.

We entered the room at the end of the hallway and found two freshly re-dead Walker-Vics on the ground with matching brutal head wounds, I guessed from the small metal wrench on the floor that was covered in blood. Damn - In an office building? Captain Idiot sure was resourceful.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches." Daryl muttered, examining his brother's work. "One-handed." He bent down to load his crossbow. I remembered what I learned about archery from summer camp and imagined the draw weight to be pretty heavy on one of those. Like 100-plus-pounds heavy. "Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

"Any man can pass out from blood loss." Rick raised his gun and began walking past him, "Not matter how tough he is."

I saw Glenn walk behind Daryl and he turned to me, stretching his mouth out with his fingers and making his eyes go huge. I couldn't smother a giggle and I cursed mentally, covering my face with my free hand.

"What's so fuckin' funny, lil girl?" Daryl barked.

"Nothin'." I said innocently. But Glenn wasn't done yet. He got as close to the redneck as he dared and made 'bunny ears' with two of his fingers, sticking his tongue out at me. I laughed again and looked away. Daryl took a step forward but I still couldn't stop smiling at Glenn, who was now doing imitations of him behind his back, making his face go all _'serious' _and pretending to fire a crossbow at the back of Daryl's head.

"I think you need to shut up and focus on the mission, here."

I couldn't look at him when I answered, "I think you need to... to- _look behind you._" A fit of giggles came over me and I actually snorted I laughed so hard. Daryl spun around and caught Glenn half-way through his draw-back-of-the-crossbow-with-a-mean-face imitation. That's all it took, and Glenn started cackling. Daryl stiffened as he turned to me, and he drew his hand back slowly. I wasn't in the mood to get hit so I pulled a move my friend Mark used to pull when he knew he was about to get his ass kicked. I rolled my eyes and, still laughing, slid passed him to where Rick and T-Dog were. It worked. Daryl just stood there all confused.

I raised my bat at the ready as we moved through another door, Daryl shoving past me and making a good impact to my shoulder as he did. I shot my leg out and kicked his shin and he let out an involuntary yelp, not expecting it. He glowered at me and I smirked. Yes, Dixon. Nicole Walker. Most likely to fight back. He narrowed his eyes and turned away.

"Merle!" He called out.

"We're not alone, here!" Rick whispered harshly. "Remember?"

AKA - Shut up, Daryl. _Thank-you, Rick! _I sighed mentally.

"Screw that!" Daryl snapped. "He could be bleedin' out, you said so yourself."

We ignored him and entered the next room - a sort of kitchen, pots and pans strewn along the counters, blood dotting the floor. We followed the blood trail to a stove, burners still on and blue flames licking at the air. Rick picked up a piece of metal that had some sort of black charcoaled stuff on it.

"What's that burnt stuff?" Glenn voiced my question.

"Skin."

"I knew he was going to say that." I mumbled.

"He cauterized the stump." Rick explained. Glenn's face turned green as the smell of _human barbeque_ reached our noses. I would have puked, back in the day. But after the whole Wayne Dunlap 'meat suit' incident? I didn't think _anything_ could gross me out, anymore.

"Told you he was tough." Daryl said. "Nobody can kill Merle, but Merle."

"Don't take that on faith." Rick said, looking at the mess across the counter. "He's lost a lot of blood."

"Not to mention a _hand_." I added darkly. Daryl looked over my shoulder and smirked,

"Didn't stop him from bustin' out of this _death trap_."

He walked past me, this time making sure not to hit my shoulder, and motioned to a mess of broken glass where a window had been shattered. The blood trail told us Merle had climbed out the window and onto the fire escape, into the Vic-infested city.

Captain Idiot strikes again!


	15. Making Plans

**_So here's the next chapter! BOOYAH!_**

**_And Dixon fans, calm down, she'll warm up to him eventually. xD (But face it, if you were a 15 year old girl, you'd probably think he was a jerk, too, right?)_**

**_My chapters will get longer over the weekend, I'll be super bored._**

**_Tips, questions, comments, concerns...?_**

**_Review!_**

**_Axarell: Yeah I know she's not exactly too civil with Daryl xD_**

**_BritishIsBetter639: It'll make more sense later on, promise xD_**

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><p>There we were at the smashed window, standing on shards of glass and listening out for sounds of shuffling feet and heavy breathing. I had gone into complete survival mode when we entered the building. I wasn't going to be the submissive little girl anymore. I'm just as strong as the rest, just as useful to the group. I just had to prove it.<p>

That's the reason I wasn't putting up with Daryl's shit. Yeah, the guy may be like 30 years older than me, but everyone in camp seemed to be skittish around him and his brother, and if I wanted to be high in the ranks, like Rick, Shane, and them, I'd have to not back down, right?

The truth was, it wasn't that I didn't like Daryl. I thought he was a pretty sound guy, apart from the obvious anger issues and the racist/sexist comments. That was the only thing that bothered me. The 'she can't handle herself' part. I'd been treated like a kid my whole life... so for once I wanted to be the one people turned to for advice, instead of the random 15 year old kid that speaks up and says something smart when the adults are talking. I wanted to be the one that made sense. The one that people trusted, and listened to.

This group could give me that chance.

"He left the building?" Glenn cut through my thoughts. I snapped back to the broken window and the blood trail that led to Merle.

"Why the hell would he do that?" T-Dog asked.

"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl rolled his eyes while he investigated the scene. "He's out there alone, as far as he knows, doin' what he's gotta do. Survivin'."

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog asked incredulously. "Just wanderin' out in the streets? Maybe passin' out? What are his odds out there?"

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks." Daryl scoffed. Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog recoiled at his words. They all felt guilty for what happened with Merle. That was the only reason they were here. Hell, me? I didn't really know for sure what I thought about what happened on the roof. One second it's 'Hey Morales, don't worry about it, the guy was a jerk', and the next its 'how could we do that to a human being?'. At a time like this, we need to do whatever we have to, to survive, but did that mean we kill the living? Did that mean we sacrifice people we didn't exactly like to save our own sorry asses? It was like we were creating our own laws and carrying out our own sentences, now. It was a brand new world and people didn't know what to do with the lack of order, the crumbled government, the non-existent structure. Okay, that was a lie. We had structure. We had the living, the dead, and the undead. There were three categories of life nowadays, and none of them looked too promising to anyone. Everyone was scared. But did that mean we leave men to die? No matter how much we dislike them?

Daryl turned around to Cop-Man, "You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb, _dead_ bastard."

"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards?" Rick evened his tone. "Different story?"

"Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him."

"Daryl- _wait!"_ Rick reached out with a flat hand and shoved him, sending him stumbling back a few steps.

"Get yer hands off me!" He barked back, stepping forward again.

I saw Glenn start to cut in but I shook my head and he stepped back. Just let them play it out.

"You can't stop me!" Daryl argued.

"I don't blame you," Rick said, "He's family - I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around, but _only_ if we keep a level head."

It took him a few seconds as he pondered over it, his scowl never wavering, but eventually Daryl agreed, "I could do that."

I looked over to Glenn and could see he was already thinking of a plan.

"Only if we get those guns first." T-Dog said, "I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

"I agree with T-Dog," I said, "I don't like using the guns too much since they attract walkers. But if we're going to head into the streets to look for Merle, then we'll need them."

"Any ideas on how we're going to get them?" Rick asked, looking to Glenn and me.

"Yeah, a few." Glenn said.

"Same here." I added.

"Well?" Daryl spat. I sighed and looked to Glenn.

"It's easier to just show you." Glenn said, "Somebody help me find a marker or something."

We scattered around the room and T-Dog tossed him a dry-erase marker from a drawer. Glenn caught it and leaned down, sketching out the streets and alleyways on the ground.

"It's safer for me to just run out and grab them while you guys cover my ass." Glenn spoke as he drew. I gave him a sceptical look but he shook it off. "I know exactly where they are so I won't waste any time."

"Your sure you can do this?" I asked. "You don't even have a weapon, Glenn."

"If the plan works, I won't need one."

"_If_ the plan works?" I asked. "_If?"_

He rolled his eyes. "It'll work. Trust me."

"Fine, but where will we be? You'll need a different way out if Vics get in the way." He smirked at me. "Walkers." I corrected, rolling my eyes at him.

"You're not doing this alone." Rick stated.

"Even _I_ think it's a bad idea, and I don't even like you much." Daryl agreed.

"It's a _good idea_, okay? If you just hear me out." Rick crouched down so he was level with us. Glenn continued, "If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone - I can move fast. Look-" He placed a paper clip at an intersection on the makeshift map "-That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now-" He dropped a scrunched up piece of paper beside it "-That's the bag of guns. Here's the alleyway I dragged you into when we first met." He pointed to it. "That's where Daryl, Nikki, and I will go."

"Why me?" Daryl asked.

"Your crossbow is quieter than his gun." He nodded to Rick. "While Daryl and Nikki wait here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"You got us elsewhere?" Rick asked.

"You and T-Dog, right." He pointed to a spot further up the map. "You'll be in this alley, here."

"Two blocks away? Why?"

"Like Nikki said, I may not be able to come back the same way." He looked to me, "_Walkers_ might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to them, I'll go forward instead. All the way around to that alley, where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here."

"Hey, kid," Daryl said, "What'd you do before all this?"

"Delivered pizzas." Glenn said. I snickered and he shot me a glare. "Why?"


	16. Plan 'F'

_**Yes here I am again. Been super busy. Work, school, kids, drama, you know the deal. Back again. Hope you enjoy.**_

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><p>We all went over the plan one more time before heading out, but it was simple enough. Glenn goes for the bag. We cover him. He runs back to us. Quick, simple. All he had to do was avoid the Vics and he'd be okay, then we go and look for Merle Dixon like we promised. Mainly so Daryl didn't end up punching Rick's lights out, I figured. But also because Dale's lecture about morals really hit home for a lot of us last night at the campfire. We really were starting to lose our humanity. We had to find some way to at least earn it back. Mounting a rescue for a man not very many people were fond of was a sure-fire way of getting back on track. And it was keeping us sane.<p>

I hopped down off the ladder and gripped my baseball bat tighter when the rancid smell of the Vics - _walkers -_ hit me. I heard Glenn and Daryl follow behind me. I snuck in behind a large dumpster and waited for them to catch up.

"You got some balls for a chinaman." Daryl said.

"I'm Korean." Glenn spat.

"Whatever."

I rolled my eyes and then nodded to Glenn. "Good luck, pizza boy. Make it back in one piece, will you?"

"Promise." He said, winking at me and sneaking around the corner out of the alley. I tensed instantly as soon as he was out of my sight. He didn't have a weapon. The street was crawling with walkers. I couldn't see him. I didn't know what was going on.

God, why did I agree to this?

"Chill out, girl, your shakin' up a storm."

I looked over my shoulder at the redneck behind me and glared. "I'm worried about him. Give me a break."

"He'll be fine. Give the kid some credit."

"I can't help it. I can't see what's going on."

"You can hear, can't ya? You hear any screamin'?"

"No.."

"Take that as a good sign."

I was about to make a remark when I heard the shuffling of footsteps coming from the alley. Daryl heard it, too, and we both automatically fell into a crouch, weapons at the ready. Daryl hopped up first, crossbow raised, and I followed. Instead of a walker, we found a teenage boy.

"Whoa, don't shoot me!" The kid freaked out. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for my brother." Daryl said, not bothering to lower his crossbow. "He's hurt real bad. You seen him?"

"Ayudame!" The kid yelled.

"_Shut up!"_ Daryl hissed. "You're gonna bring the geeks down on us. Answer me!"

"Daryl," I cut in, "Get the crossbow out of his face and maybe he'll talk!"

He ignored me. Big surprise there.

"Answer me!" He growled again. The kid looked from me to Daryl.

"Ayudame!" He shouted again. "Ayudame!"

"Shut up!" Daryl reached out and swung the crossbow so it connected with the kids head. He fell back onto the concrete and Daryl bent down to try and muffle his screams.

"Daryl, what the hell!" I hissed. I understood the kid was making a lot of noise. But there were nicer ways of getting someone to be quiet then clocking them in the face with a heavy-ass crossbow.

Then I got knocked over. I couldn't see what or who it was but I heard the dull sounds of punches being thrown and Daryl grunting in pain beside me. I blinked a few times and rolled over, only to get an elbow to the cheek-bone. I kicked blindly and my foot connected with the back of someone's knee, making them collapse to my side. Then Glenn appeared at the entrance to the alley, bag of guns and a cowboy hat in his hands. Unfortunately our assailants caught sight of him.

"That's it!" One shouted. "That's the bag, vato, take it!"

The two ignored me and Daryl and ran for Glenn, tackling him and taking the bag of guns from him while he screamed and kicked at them.

"Glenn!" I shouted. I tried to get to my feet but found I'd twisted my ankle pretty bad and just fell back onto the ground on top of the teenage kid. "Daryl, do something!" I yelled behind me. I saw him raise his bow and then an arrow connected with flesh. An excellent shot, too, one of the guys got a fluff of neon feathers sticking out his ass. He yelped out and gripped at the arrow but it didn't do any good. He gave up and the two dragged Glenn - minus the guns - with them, out of the alleyway and onto the street, just as a car pulled up. I crawled forward and used the side of a dumpster to haul myself to my feet, scrambling and limping after Glenn.

"No! Leave him alone!"

"Daryl! Nikki! Help!" Glenn called. Then they shoved him into the car and piled in after him, I ran for them but it sped off down the road as I tried to get closer. Walkers growled from behind me and Daryl grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back into the alley and into safety.

"Glenn!" I screamed to thin air.

"Come back here! You sum_bitches_!" Daryl barked. Walkers crowded at the gate and Daryl pulled it shut and they just milled on the other side of the fence, gnawing at the air and snapping their jaws. I looked away and was about to start ranting at a mile a minute about how we were going to get him back when I looked over at the ground and saw the two men had left behind the teenage boy. Daryl narrowed his eyes, turning around and launching for the kid.


	17. Calm Discussion

_**Hey guys! I'm back!**_

_**I know, I know, there is absolutely n-o-t-h-i-n-g I can do to make it up to you guys. But hey, I have an excuse. I'm the proud mother of newborn twins ! :D**_

_**So, since I've been gone for so long, feel free to yell at me, and send in requests for Nikki/Glenn one-shots. I will do 'em all.**_

_**Season Three guys. I have ideas for Nicole already xD It's gonna be good.**_

_**Rewind your heads back to season one, though. (I know, I know, shoot me. I'll do longer chapters from here on out.)**_

_**And if anybody can tell me the little bits in Spanish that'd help! I don't have subtitles lol.**_

_**Drop a review ! I missed you guys !**_

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><p><em>"Daryl! Nikki! Help!" Glenn called. Then they shoved him into the car and piled in after him, I ran for them but it sped off down the road as I tried to get closer. Walkers growled from behind me and Daryl grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back into the alley and into safety.<em>

_"Glenn!" I screamed to thin air._

_"Come back here! You sum_bitches_!" Daryl barked. Walkers crowded at the gate and Daryl pulled it shut and they just milled on the other side of the fence, gnawing at the air and snapping their jaws. I looked away and was about to start ranting at a mile a minute about how we were going to get him back when I looked over at the ground and saw the two men had left behind the teenage boy. Daryl narrowed his eyes, turning around and launching for the kid._

Rick and T-Dog ran up at that moment and Rick shoved Daryl back. "Woah, woah woah! Stop it!"

"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in yer throat!" Daryl shouted, and I got a very brutal image in my head. Thanks overactive imagination, thanks. T-Dog held the kid against the wall with one hand and I leaned against the other side, breathing hard. "They took Glenn," Daryl snarled, "That little bastard is little bastard homie friends! I'm gonna stomp your ass!"

"Guys, guys!" T-Dog shouted. He pointed to the walkers pressing on the gate. "We're cut off!"

"Get back," Rick yelled, grabbing the bag of guns, "Go!"

I ran to follow T-Dog but Rick paused. "C'mon man, let's go!" Daryl yelled.

"Rick what the hell are you-" He leaned down to pick up his hat. He and Daryl ran past me. "Seriously?!"

I shook my head and we ran back up into the building, where we were before in that little kitchen area. The kid looked at the charred flesh on the stove and flinched away from it.

"Who are you people?" He asked.

"Just a group lookin' for our friend," Rick said, and T-Dog threw him down into a seat. "Those men you were with," Rick said, "We need to know where they went."

The kid ran his tongue over the cut on his lip. "I ain't tellin' you nothin'." I looked over at him and noticed the marijuana leaf tattooed on his neck. Oh, how classy.

"Jesus, man, what the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked.

"I told you!" Daryl snapped, "This lil' turd and his douchebag friends came outta nowhere and jumped us!"

"Man, you're the one who jumped me, _puto." _ Well, he has a point, there. "Screamin' about tryin' to find his brother like it's my damn fault."

"They took Glenn! Coulda taken Merle, too!"

"Merle?" Weed-boy snorted, "What kinda hick name is that? Wouldn't name my _dog_ Merle."

Oh, good goin', kid, that'll set him off.

Daryl growled and tried to reach for the kid but Cop-man once again pushed him back. "Damnit, Daryl, back off!"

Daryl reached for Glenn's backpack and dug through it. Oh, yeah Daryl, because right now is a good time for granola bars.

He pulled out the blue handkerchief and I winced. Oh. Right.

"Wanna see what happened to the last guy who pissed me off?"

He slammed the _hand_ into the kids lap and he yelped and shuffled out of the seat, backing against the wall. Daryl stomped over him and grabbed him by his wife-beater. "Imma start with the _feet_ this time!"

Rick knelt next to the kid. "The men you were with took our friend. All we wanna do is talk to them, see if we can work somethin' out."

I sighed, "You might as well give it up, dude," I said, shrugging, "I mean, would you rather be with your people? Or him?" I jerked my head towards Daryl.

Weed-boy looked between us. "Fine, I'll take you there."

Rick pulled him to his feet and he led us out of the office and down through the alleys.

"What's a girl like you doin' with a bunch'a guys like them?" He asked.

I smirked. "I keep 'em in line."

He gave me his hand. "Miguel."

I pushed on his shoulder. "Keep moving."

He chuckled, "Ooh, feisty. I like that."

Daryl reached out and smacked Miguel upside the head. Why thank you, oh Redneck Protector. Miguel shriveled down and kept walking.

"Damn, I was just tryin' to be nice to the girl."

"Keep yer mouth shut and hurry up," Daryl growled, "Wastin' daylight."

Miguel stopped us just outside a big courtyard. He jerked his head towards it. "That big red door," He said, "That's the place."

Rick motioned us and we took cover behind a wall. Daryl put a hand on Miguel's shoulder and shoved him down to the ground like _here, have a seat. _Rick set down the bag of guns and handed T-Dog a rifle and some ammo.

"You know how to fire long range?"

"Good enough," T-Dog said.

Rick looked to me and Daryl. "I'll have you two with me. They've already seen you. T-Dog, you cover us from that rooftop over there," He pointed, "Just in case something goes wrong." He looked up at T-Dog, "You ready?"

"Yeah." Rick handed the bag of guns to him and he went off to hit post. Daryl looked down at Miguel.

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know."

Oh, ten points for the Redneck Wonder right there.

"G's gonna take the arrow outta _my_ ass, and shove it up _yours. _Just so _you_ know."

"'G'?" Cop-Man asked.

"Guillermo," Miguel said, "He's the man, here."

"Okay then," Cop-Man cocked his shotgun like a total badass, "Let's go see Guillermo."

He stood and we all followed. Rick ducked under the window beside us and down into the courtyard. I followed, and after me, Miguel and Daryl. I could almost _feel_ weed-boy's eyes staring at my ass the entire time. We walked cautiously through the abandoned building, and despite everything, I thought it looked kinda pretty. It was just a really old building without a roof, and covered in vines. It was cool.

Well, apart from the graffiti, and gang signs.

And the fridge. Seriously? Who puts a fridge in a courtyard? What?

We came up to the door and while everyone's eyes watched them, nervous, my eyes fell on the propane tank three yards away and I imagined myself having some sort of Rambo-type scene where I shoot the tank and explode the whole building and save the day. Hey, it could happen.

Although Glenn would be inside that building..

Hey, it's a work in progress, okay?

Cop-man pushed Miguel forward with the end of his shotgun, and we waited in uneasy silence. I had a thousand different scenarios running through my head of how badly this was going to turn out. They could have snipers on the roof and could shoot all of us stone dead and take Miguel inside. They could run out with knives and stab us all to death before we knew what was going on. Hell, those doors were big enough, they could bust through them with a freaking Humvee and splatter us all over the concrete.

Or they could open the door and have a single unarmed guy walk out. Hey, that works too.

Guillermo, I guessed, looked to Miguel. "You okay, lil man?"

"They threatened to cut off my feet," Miguel said.

G looked over at Rick's uniform. "Cops do that?"

"Not him," Miguel said, "This redneck _puto_ here. He cut off some dude's hand, man, he showed it to me!" His voice cracked.

"Shut up!" Daryl barked. G took a breath, as if pondering our fate. Oh come on. What's it gonna be? Snipers, knives, or monster truck? Personally I'd prefer snipers, it's less painful.

"Hey! That's that _vato_ right there, holmes!" A few guys walked out of the building, one of them a little familiar, and holding a gun pointed at Daryl. "Shot me in the ass with an arrow, man!" He took a step forward, "Sup, holmes?!"

Guillermo put a hand out and lowered his gun. "Chill, _ese, _chill, chill.." He looked to us again. "This true? He wants Miguel's feet? That's pretty sick, man."

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion." Cop-Man said.

"That hillbilly jumps Phillipe's little cousin, threatens to cut off his feet. Phillipe gets an arrow in the ass, and you want a calm discussion? You fascinate me."

Yep, I'm thinking snipers and knives, a little bit of both. We're so dead.

"Heat of the moment," Cop-Man said, "Mistakes were made. On both sides."

"Who's that dude to you anyway? Don't look related."

"He's one of our group, more or less," Cop-Man said, and I gave him a weird look. More or _less? More or less? _Dude, Glenn saved your life you ungrateful jerk! "I'm sure you have a few like him."

"You got my brother in there!?" Daryl growled.

Oh, Daryl, if Captain Idiot was in there, I think we would've heard him by now.

"Sorry," G shrugged, "Fresh outta white boys. But I got Asian. Interested?"

I gripped my magnum tighter and shuffled my feet. Come on, dude, just trade off already.

"I have one of yours," Cop-Man said, "You have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade."

"Don't sound even to me." G said. I breathed hard. What, can you not do math, ese?! Just let Glenn go!

Miguel gave his leader a scared look. "G! Come on, man!"

"Our people got attacked," G said, "Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point-" He scratched his noise, "Where's my bag of guns?"

"Guns?"

"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Phillipe and Jorge were goin' back to get. That bag of guns."

"You're mistaken." Rick said.

"I don't think so."

"About it being yours." Oh, ten points for Cop-Man. "It's my bag of guns."

G shook his head, "The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word?"

"Look at his god damned uniform for Christ sake," I spoke up. "They're his guns."

G looked from me to Rick. "What's to stop my people from unloadin' on you right here, and I take what's mine?"

His men stepped forward and I raised my magnum, adding another scenario to my list. Getting peppered by revolvers.

"You could do that," Cop-Man took a very obvious look up to T-Dog, and G followed his gaze. "Or not."

G looked up over his shoulder and shouted something in spanish. I looked up as three figures appeared at the edge of the roof. One of the guys pulled a bag off the middle one's head and I let out an involuntary squeak. It was Glenn. My pizza boy.

"I see two options," G said, "You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns - everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, and we see which side spills more blood."

They backed into the building and we kept our guns - and crossbow - on each other until the doors were closed.

Well, that went well.


	18. Appearances

"Them guns are worth more than gold," Daryl was saying as Rick rifled through the magic bag of weapons. "Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You willin' to give that up for that kid?"

I glared at him. "I'd take 'that kid' over you any day, sunshine."

"Watch your mouth, powder puff."

"Guys." Rick snapped.

T-Dog shook his head. "If I knew we'd get Glenn back I might agree. But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?"

Weed boy shot him a glare. "You callin' G a liar?"

"Are you a part a'this?!" Daryl snapped at him, and slapped him. And I mean full blown_ bitch _slap. "You wanna hold onto your teeth?!"

"Question is," T-Dog said, "Do you trust that man's word?"

"No, question is, what you willin' to bet on it?" Daryl said, "Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?"

"Look at his uniform, bro..." I muttered.

Rick put his revolver in his pocket. "What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could'a walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I."

"So you're gonna hand the guns over?"

Rick looked over at him with an expression that kind of scared me. The same expression he had just before he gave Glenn and me a walker bath.

"I didn't say that." He picked up his revolver and loaded it. "There's nothin' keeping you three here, you should get out, head back to camp."

I scoffed, "Screw that, Officer Friendly. I'm not leaving till we get Pizza Boy back safe and sound."

"We got you." T-Dog agreed, reluctantly.

Rick looked to the Redneck wonder, who gave him a nod. We all reached for a weapon and Miguel shook his head and went to stand.

"Oh, come on-" Daryl pushed him back down again like 'Sit, puppy, stay'. "Just- just do like G says."

"And get killed?" I asked, and grabbed him by the wife beater. "Move."

-.-.-.-.-

Once again I found myself walking through that courtyard, surrounded by men with guns, praying to whoever would listen that Glenn was okay. Once again I stared confused at the freaking fridge sitting on the ground. Like, really?

The big red doors of doom opened, and Daryl shoved Miguel inside, before we all followed inside like we were walking through the gates of hell. We walked past a ton of armed men and part of me hoped that Daryl was still on his Redneck Protector crusade. I mean, I'm pretty spry, but they're big. And there's a lot of them. And that would definitely be a fate worse than death to be taken by them.

"I see my guns," G looked at CopMan. "But they're not all in the bag."

Didn't we go over this?

"That's because they're not yours," Rick said, "I thought I mentioned that."

Inner me punched the air.

Arrow-in-the-ass boy turned to G. "Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese, alright? Unload on their asses, ese."

I snorted to cover up the whimper I felt was sneaking up on me. "I guarantee we can drop at least six or seven of you _vatos_ before we hit the deck."

G gave me an unamused look and turned to Rick.

"Might wanna keep your bitch on a leash."

Scared or not, he called me a bitch.

"In fact I don't wanna shoot you. I wanna throw you to the walkers. I'm sure they'd love a little Mexican for dinner."

"I don't think you fully understand the gravity of the situation."

"No, we're pretty clear." Rick said. He pulled a knife, and cut Miguel's bindings. He shoved him forward. "You have your man. I want mine."

G ran his tongue over his teeth, and then got in the Sheriff's face. "I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest man-eatin' bitches you ever saw. I picked 'em up from Satan at a yard sale."

What did I say about gates of Hell?

"I told you how it has to be, are you woefully deaf?"

Rick stepped closer. "My hearin's fine, you said come locked and loaded," He cocked his gun and the rest of us followed, my sights on Arrow-in-the-ass. "Okay then, we're here."

We stood for a few tense, cut the air with a knife, moments, and then an old woman stepped from around a corner.

"Felipe!" She called, "Felipe!"

"_Abuela_," Arrow-in-the-ass called, gun still aimed at my forehead. "Go back with the others. Now!"

"Get that ol' lady outta the line a'fire!" Daryl snapped.

"_Abuela_," G turned to her, "Listen to your _mijo_ okay? This is not the place for you right now."

She looked to 'Felipe'. "Mr Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He- he needs his asthma stuff. Carlito didn't find it. He needs his medicine."

G looked from us to the woman, and I couldn't help but crack a smile. D'awww.

"Felipe go take care of it!" He snapped, "And take your grandmother with you!"

Felipe turned and tried to lead her out, but she looked over his shoulder.

"Who are those people?"

Felipe called after her but she ignored him and walked right up to Rick, who lowered his rifle.

"Don't you take him!" She snapped.

"Ma'am-"

"Felipe's a good boy. He have his trouble, but he'll pull himself together. We need him here."

That. Is. Adorable.

"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." Rick told her gently.

"Then, what do you want him for?"

"He's... Helping us find a missing person." Clever, Sheriff. "A fella named Glenn."

"The Asian boy?" I smiled at that, "He's with Mr Gilbert," she said, "Come, come, I show you. He needs his medicine."

Rick began to follow her, and the rest of us fell in line. G's men tensed, but he called them off. "Let 'em pass," he sighed. I smirked. Yeah that's right, ese.

Granny led us out through an alley and across a courtyard, and up into another building. The white walls and floor made me think of a hospital. There were rooms, patients hooked up to IVs. But they were all over 50. It was an old folks home... My god.

We were led to the very end of the hall, into a cafeteria. There was a man there in a wheelchair who was gasping for air. Felipe went to him and helped him with an inhaler. I saw Glenn, but I was too shocked about everything else around us to really compute.

"What the hell is this?" Rick asked Glenn in a low voice.

"Asthma attack." Glenn answered nonchalantly. "Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden."

"I don't think that's what he meant, honey."

"We thought you were being eaten by dogs, man!" T-Dog cleared it up.

Glenn looked over his shoulder, and we saw a tiny little leopard print dog bed, with three chihauhau-looking things inside it. One of them yapped at me and I frowned. If you're gonna yell at me, puppydog, at least get yourself a real bark.

Rick turned to G. "Can I have a word with you?" he pulled him off to the side, "You are the dumbest son of a bitch I ever knew. We came in here ready to kill every last one of you!"

G nodded. "I'm glad it didn't go down that way."

"And if it had? That blood would be on my hands."

"Mine too," G answered, "We'd have fought back. Wouldn't be the first time we've had to. Protect the food, the medicine- what's left of it. These people, the old ones - the staff took off, just left 'em here to die." Rick took a look around, "Yeah. Me and Felipe were the only ones who stayed."

"What are you? Doctors?" My ears kind of pricked up at that. I would probably need a doctor sooner or later. My track record with health wasn't too awesome.

"Felipe's a nurse- a special care provider. Me? I'm the custodian."

Oh my god, G the janitor.

"Come on, this way." G looked to our group, and we followed him back down the hall. He took us into a room that looked a lot like a Janitor's his room.

"What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asked.

"The vatos trickle in, check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are, and most decide to stay. It's a good thing, too, we need the muscle. The people we've encountered, since things fell apart.. The worst kind. Plunderers, the kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are," Rick told him.

"How was I to know? My people got attacked, and you show up with Miguel hostage... Appearances."

"Guess the world changed." T-Dog muttered.

"No," G said, "It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy. And that's worth somethin'. So, we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut, except for one entrance. The vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day, and we wait. The people here? They all look to me, now. I don't even know why."

"Because they can." Rick said. He handed G a shotgun, and then pulled a rifle and some ammo from the bag and set it on the table, too. "We should get going," He said, and G stood up and shook his hand. "Good luck."

"You, too," He said. "Watch your backs."

I gave G a nod and followed everyone out, and back to the courtyard with the fridge. Soon the big red doors were shut, and we were on our way back to the cube van so we could go back to camp.

"Admit it," Glenn was saying, looking over at Rick and his fancy uniform, "You only came back to Atlanta for the hat."

Rick smiled, "Don't tell anybody."

Daryl and his prissy attitude ignored them. "You've given away half our guns and ammo."

Rick shook his head, "Not nearly half."

"For what? Bunch'a old farts who're gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long do you think they got?"

I snickered, "Old farts?"

"How long do any of us?" Rick asked.

Just then we turned the corner, and where we should've found a big ass cube van, we saw empty space.

"Oh my god."

"Where the hell's our van?"

"We left it right there, who would take it?"

"Merle." Rick answered.

Daryl looked over at Sheriff Rick. "He's gonna be takin' some vengeance back to camp."

"What do we do?" I asked.

"We can walk from here," Rick said. "If we hurry we'll be there in an hour."

I scrunched up my nose. "Walking. Great."

Glenn patted my shoulder as we started moving. "Don't worry, if you get too tired, I'll carry you."

I gave him doe eyes. "My hero."


	19. Nice to Meet You

Night fell, and we were still walking towards camp. My legs were turning to jelly with each freaking step.

"You okay, Nikki?"

"Call me Nikki again, Glenn, and _you _won't be." I smiled over at him.

He put his hands up in defense. "Hey, now, I-"

Gunshots echoed through the night, and my blood ran cold.

"Oh my god." Rick whispered, and all of us ran full speed ahead up the hill, towards the shooting. Towards camp.

We reached it, and it was a mess. Walkers _everywhere_. People were screaming and the whole place was hectic. I drew my magnum, and concentrated, holding my breath every time I pulled the trigger. I was never a very good shot, but we were so close range to the walkers, it didn't matter. Six shots later, and I didn't exactly have time to reload, so I grabbed a nearby axe. A walker came at me, and I screamed and swung the axe. It buried into the walker's shoulder, and the thing just kept coming for me.

"Nikki, get back!" Glenn shouted, and I did as I was told. He swung his baseball bat, and the walker stumbled over. He kept smashing his bat into the side of its face, and soon it stopped moving. Glenn looked to me, "Are you okay?"

I swallowed, "I- I think so, I-"

I didn't finish my sentence, because Glenn's arms were around me. I let out a sob and cried into his shoulder. The gunshots had stopped, but everyone was screaming and crying and freaking out. One scream was louder to me than all the others.

"Amy! Amy!" Andrea's voice carried over to me and I looked over Glenn's shoulder, seeing the young blonde covered in blood and on the ground. I let out a strangled cry and buried my face in Glenn's shoulder.

_This is why I've never joined a group._

.:.

We all stood for what felt like hours after those last shots stopped, just holding onto each other in front of the RV. Glenn's arms were around me and I wasn't going to move for anything. Amy was gone. God knows who else.

"Nikki, come on," Glenn held me by my shoulders, "Let's get you some sleep."

I shook my head, "I can't- I- I can't. My stuff's over there-" I pointed to the RV, and Amy's blood-soaked body.

Glenn nodded. "Okay, over here then. You'll take my tent."

He led me away from the mess of bodies and over to his tent, where he made me lay down.

"Glenn?" I asked.

"I'm here."

"Can you.. Stay? Please?"

He set down his baseball bat outside the tent and looked back over at me.

"I should go help with the.. bodies. But I'll be back."

"Okay."

He took his blanket and pulled it over me. "Close your eyes, Stripper girl. I'll be back soon, okay?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears still falling. "Okay."

He nodded and left the tent. As soon as he was gone, I started bawling again.

I'd never been this close to a walker. I'd never seen anyone killed by one. Especially someone I knew. I guess the full force of the apocalypse just hit me in the face, and I wasn't sure if I could deal with it. I knew I didn't want to.

Instead of dealing with it, I closed my eyes and hoped to god I wouldn't have nightmares.

.:.

When I woke up, I was expecting to be back in the city, in the closed off apartment complex. But no, it was the camp. And I wasn't in the RV, either. I was in Glenn's tent.

I shifted, and suddenly felt the presence of another body. I looked over, and found Glenn curled up a few feet away, his arms curled around a rifle. I sat up, moving to rub my eyes, but noticed my hands were covered in blood. My breathing quickened as everything from the previous night flooded into my head. I hurried with the tent door and got out, the sun hitting me hard in the face. I started walking for the water, keeping my head down so I wouldn't see anyone. Or, specifically, Amy. I didn't want to see Amy. I couldn't handle that.

My feet carried me down out of camp, and through the woods, down to the water's edge. No one was around, and I was thankful for that. I ran to the water and dropped to my knees, throwing my hands in. I scrubbed my arms like crazy, breathing hard and tears starting to form. I wasn't just wiping away blood, I was trying my _very_ best to eliminate a memory that I _did not want. _I let out a sob when I noticed my shirt was covered, too. I yanked it over my head, leaving myself in a tanktop, and threw it into the water, too.

"Nikki?"

I stopped, wiping tears from my face. "Glenn."

He moved over to my side and sat down. "How did you sleep?" He asked.

"Fine," I mumbled, looking down at my bloody shirt again and wincing.

Glenn looked out over the water. "Don't lie to me, Nicole."

I looked over at him. "'Fine' is all you're gonna get right now."

He met my eyes. "I heard you last night, talking."

I shivered and looked back to my shirt. Suddenly I got really freaking nervous. But then again, it's not like I sat there mumbling 'I'm 15' and '..I have a secret' in my sleep, did I? But then again, this is me.

"Yeah?"

"That was your first encounter with walkers?"

I sighed, "Yeah. Up close, anyway."

"I'd have figured you for a geek-slayer, you know?" He leaned back on his elbows.

"Why's that?"

"You just looked like you had the mentality."

I leaned back with him. "And now?"

"Now I think you hide, behind that veil of sarcasm."

"I'm not hiding."

"Yeah, you are." He looked over at me. "And you don't have to. Not around me."

"I don't even know you." I defended.

"Well," he sat up, and gave me his hand, "Glenn Rhee. Nice to meet you."

I smiled, taking his hand. "Nicole Avery. Likewise, Glenn."

"So, where you from, Nicole?"

I laughed, "Minnesota. My dad's from England."

"Hence the odd accent." He grinned.

"What about you?"

"Michigan. Before that, Korea."

"Can you speak Korean?" I asked, actually curious.

He laughed and shook his head, "Wish I could. What's your favourite colour?"

"Purple. You?"

"Blue. Did you have any siblings?" He asked the question hesitantly.

"A little brother," I told him, "He was thirteen, and a five year old sister. You?"

"All sisters." He sighed and I gave a weak smile.

"I miss mine, too."

"Yeah." He paused, "Can I ask you something?"

"Just did."

"Shut up." He smiled.

"What is it?" I asked.

He gave me a serious look, "Why do you insist on going on missions, when you're not... Yknow, walker killing material."

Because I have a death wish, Glenn.

"Because I want to earn my keep," I said.

We heard rustling behind us, and Glenn grabbed his baseball bat. Our eyes focused on the forest. My breathing got heavy again.

"Glenn-" Shane paused as he came around the corner. Glenn and I relaxed. "We could use you. Taking care of the rest of the bodies."

Glenn nodded, "Gotcha."

Shane gave me a nod, and dissappeared back up the hill. I stood up, picking up my bloody shirt. Glenn followed.

"So... Bodies."

"I'd rather do it, than leave Daryl to do it unsupervised."

I flinched, "I don't like the idea of anyone touching Amy right now."

Glenn pulled me into a hug. "I'll make sure no one does but us, okay?"

"Okay." I whispered.

.:.

Glenn didn't have to keep an eye out for Amy. When we got back to camp, Andrea was holding a gun to Rick's face because he came too close. That made me feel a lot better, knowing Amy was safe. I didn't want anyone throwing a pickaxe into her head. She was just a kid, just like me, and it didn't feel right. Glenn went off to help with the bodies, and left me standing kind of awkwardly, wondering what the hell I was going to do with myself. I looked over at Andrea, and made up my mind. I worked up a shitton of courage and walked over there, sitting down next to the pair of blondes.

"I came to say goodbye, if that's okay."

Andrea gave a small nod, her eyes still on her sister. I still couldn't bring myself to look down.

"I promised her I'd come back to play twister with her and Glenn," I said. "I promised her."

"It's her birthday, today." Andrea said quietly.

"I'm sorry."

She nodded, "Me, too."

I put a hand on Andrea's shoulder, and stood up.


	20. Time Bomb

I made my way to the campfire, wiping tears from my face. I took a seat next to Jacqui and she put her hand over mine.

"How you doin', sweetheart?"

"I'm... Dealing," I answered honestly.

She nodded and gave me a comforting smile. "I was scared for you," She said, "I wondered how this mess would effect you."

I looked over at her, "What do you mean?"

She squeezed my hand. "Honey, you call the walkers 'victims'."

Point taken. I nodded, looking over at Andrea and Amy. "And this is why, Jacqui."

Smoke burned at my nose, and I let out a cough at the rough smell. I pulled my shirt up to my nose, and turned around, finding some of the group members hauling bodies onto a bonfire. The smell of charcoaled skin was thick in the air, and I lost my appetite for at least the next year. It was enough to turn me vegetarian.

"I've gotta go and help," Jacqui said, putting her hand on my shoulder, "Are you gonna be alright?"

I nodded, "I'm okay."

She left, and for some reason, the cooking bodies smell got thicker, and I couldn't handle it. I ran to the edge of the woods, heaving up my breakfast behind some bushes. I wiped tears from my eyes as they started streaming, my only thoughts were that I couldn't keep this up for much longer. I hated it.

I pulled myself together again and went back to the campfire, wishing I at least had a stick of gum. I looked over as Lori, Dale, and Carol joined me at the campfire, soon followed by Rick, Shane, and then Daryl. Rick and Shane were talking about Amy, and I sunk back into my chair, bringing my knees up to my face.

"It's not safe," Shane was saying, "Someone needs to talk to Andrea."

"She won't let anyone close," Rick said. "We'll just wait, and deal with the problem when it arises."

"You can't be serious," Daryl said, pickaxe thrown over his shoulder like a freaking caveman. "Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."

I clenched my fists, but I was too upset to say anything.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asked him.

Daryl stepped towards him. "Take the shot," He said, "Clean, in the brain, from here. Hell, I could hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"No." Lori's tone was final, "For God's sake, let her be."

Daryl scoffed and went off to join the body crew. I looked back at the ashes of the campfire in front of me.

"Nicole?" Rick was looking at me, "You're oddly quiet."

"I'm tired," I told him. Which was kind of true. "Couldn't sleep at all last night."

Shane exhaled, "Yeah, I'm with ya on that."

"Hey-hey what are you guys doing?" Glenn's voice made me turn around. He was over by the fire, and Daryl and Morales were dragging a body towards it. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there!"

"What's the difference," Daryl snapped, "They're all infected."

Glenn took a step toward Daryl. "Our people go in that row over there," His voice cracked, "We don't _burn_ them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there."

Daryl did as he was told, and I nearly cheered. I got up from my seat and went over to Glenn, trying hard not to breathe through my nose as I got closer to the fire.

"Glenn," I said, and he looked up at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered, "It's just... Like what you said about Amy. We need to treat our people right."

I nodded, "Yeah."

He looked up at me and arched a brow, "Why are you smiling?"

I grinned, "You just stood up to Daryl Dixon," I said, "And he took it like a bitch."

He smirked, "I did, didn't I?"

I laughed, "Minus the squeaky voice, it was pretty sexy." He smacked my arm. "Hey, I thought violence didn't solve anything!"

"It's more satisfying than I thought, hitting you," he smiled.

"Uh, abuse!"

He shrugged, "It's a common thing for strippers. You should be used to it."

It was my turn to smack his arm. "You asshole!"

"Ow!" he went to lunge for me, but Jacqui's voice echoed through the camp, and we froze.

"A walker bit Jim!"

My smile faded, and I turned around to see everyone circling Jim like hawks.

"Show it to us!" Daryl yelled.

Jim turned and grabbed a shovel to protect himself, and everyone flipped the hell out.

"Leave him alone!" I screamed, stepping towards him. Glenn gently put a hand on my shoulder to keep me back.

"Easy, Jim!"

"Grab him!"

"Put it down, Jim! Put it down!"

T-Dog snuck up behind him and pulled him into a headlock. Poor Jim kept repeating "I'm okay... I'm okay..." even when Daryl lifted his shirt and revealed a set of bloody teeth marks.

"I'm okay... I'm okay..."

.:.

While everyone was deciding what to 'do' with Jim and Amy, I sat with Jim to keep him company, my magnum sticking out of the back of my jeans, just in case someone came for him. There was a reason I called the walkers 'victims'. It's because they are. Every one of them used to be one of us. Victims of a global tragedy. It could happen to anyone.

"I heard you lost your family," Jim said suddenly, looking over at me.

"My step dad," I nodded. "I lost my bio-dad to the war. He was a marine."

"And your mom?" Jim asked.

I sighed, "I keep praying she's still alive," I said, "Back in Minnesota, with my brother and sister, Cameron and Alyssa." I shivered, "And if not... Then I take comfort knowing I'll see them again some day."

Jim nodded, "I'll see my family again, too."

_'Sooner, rather than later' _were unspoken words.

Suddenly my head snapped up and I saw Daryl rushing our way with his pickaxe. I jumped to my feet and pulled my gun, standing between him and the infected man behind me. Rick and Shane rounded on the Redneck Wonder and the Sheriff had his revolver to Daryl's head for the second time within 24 hours.

"We don't. Kill. The living." Rick growled.

Daryl lowered the pickaxe and turned to him. "That's funny, comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things," Shane said, "Not on this. You put it down. Go on."

I didn't lower my gun until he'd dropped his weapon and stomped away like a five year old girl. I put the magnum back in my jeans, and Rick walked past me and grabbed Jim by the arm.

"Come with me."

"Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere safe."

The two left, and I leaned back against the RV. Jacqui came over and took my hand, leading me to the campfire for a seat. She handed me a water bottle and I took it, gratefully, downing half of it in one big gulp. Damn, that was nice. Glenn dropped down in a seat next to me, taking his hat off and looking at the ground. He looked like crap. I took my water bottle and reached over, pouring it over his neck and the back of his head. He sat up.

"Normally I would hit you," he said, "But that was kind of awesome." He laughed and shook his hair out like a dog.

I laughed, "That was the point. It's hot as balls out, and you've been working all day."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks. I needed that."

"What am I here for?"

He smirked, "Entertainment. Exotic dancing, specifically."

"Hey! I'm here fo-"

My eyes had strayed to the RV, and movement caught my eye. Amy was sitting up, holding onto Andrea. I stood up, part of me hoping that maybe she wasn't...

That gunshot shook me to my core. I dropped back into my seat, and stared at the ground for what felt like hours.

.:.

That night, I skipped on dinner and went straight for sleep. I really needed the rest. Jim had taken the RV, so I was bunking in a spare tent -or at least that's what Rick had told me. It didn't feel like it was unused. Which made it impossible for me to get to sleep. That, mixed with the unease about leaving. Around lunchtime Shane had told us all that we were headed to the CDC in Atlanta, to look for a cure for Jim. I wanted nothing more than to help the poor guy, but Atlanta belonged to the dead. And everytime this group went there something bad happened. It wasn't a good plan. I sighed and threw off my covers, putting my shorts and tank back on. I slipped into my flip flops and stepped out of the tent, planning to go for a walk. Instead, my laziness won over, and my 'walk' consisted of going to the RV and sneaking one of the last bags of chips. Jim was knocked out in the back, and Dale was up on top, on watch with his rifle. I sat at the table and started eating, trying to be as quiet as I could. I looked over and saw a calendar on the wall, and got curious. I started counting back weeks, frowning at it. Then I followed Andrea's cross marks and found today's date. My birthday was tomorrow. Sixteen.

"What's got you up this late?" I jumped, and found Dale standing at the door.

"I, uh, couldn't sleep," I told him. "And I'm starving."

"I don't blame you, seeing as you didn't join us for dinner."

I set the chips down. "I couldn't do it," I told him, "I couldn't just sit there and talk about 'plans'. Pretend that what happened last night didn't scare the shit out of me."

Dale took a seat across from me. "We lost a lot of people," He said. I nodded, looking at my hands. "I saw you looking at the calendar," he mentioned, "Andrea's been marking days since I found her and Amy."

I flinched when he said amy's name. "Yeah, that's cool. It's good to know what the day is, you know? Makes me feel human." I smiled slightly, "It's my birthday tomorrow."

Dale smiled, "Well," he looked down at his watch, "Technically, it's your birthday today."

"Oh."

"Happy birthday, Nicole," He said.

"Thanks."

Dale looked hard at my face. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

I shrugged, "Life, the new backdrop we have. Moving forward." _The death wish I have. The secrets I'm keeping._

"I think we take each day as it comes." Dale said.

"So there's no hope?" I asked, "We'll never build a society again? It's over?"

Dale shook his head, "I never said that. I have faith that we'll get back on our feet eventually. But for right now, we cross bridges as we reach them."

"Oh," I mumbled, thoughts on my secrets. Eventually I'd have to tell people. It wasn't exactly going to be my choice.

"What is it?"

I shrugged, "What you said about crossing bridges," I said, "I don't think I have the courage to cross mine. Especially not now." I covered my eyes with my hands so he wouldn't see my tears. "I'd rather burn them."

Dale reached over and gently moved my hands away from my face. "Nicole, it helps if you talk about it."

I looked up at him through watery eyes. Part of me said to run. Part of me always says to run. But part of me said I could trust him. Part of me wanted to tell him.

"Okay."


End file.
